


Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Prism Globe Saga

by sylph_of_eons



Category: Original Work, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Adventure, Contains references to rest of the series as a whole, Contains spoilers to PMD: GTI and PSMD, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Mystery, autistic protagonists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27545284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylph_of_eons/pseuds/sylph_of_eons
Summary: Pecha and Don are apprentices as the Spear City Guild when the arrival of a stranger in town begins to change the course of their fledgling careers. Ajax, however, comes to the Stone Continent with the goal of finding the legendary Prism Globe, but the Voice of Life promises that he will discover something else on his journey as well. With tensions among the Tapu Gaurdians rising, and mystery dungeons becoming more common and unpredictable, it's clear that the quest for the legendary treasure will have a role to play in determining the future of the Stone Continent.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	1. Light Approaching

It was nighttime on the Sand Continent. The sky, as usual, was clear and decorated with brilliant white stars and the glow of the full moon. The Aeria Temple was cast in a golden hue from the light of lit lanterns. Most of the pokemon that were still out were giving each other well wishes before heading out to bed. 

Flygon himself received many of these well wishes as he glided his way down the temple halls. Unfortunately, Flygon was in a bit of a hurry. It’s not often he receives a summon from the Voice of Life, afterall.

Flygon landed on his feet in front of a door hidden away at the back of one of the buildings on the temple ground. Most acolytes at the temple would be surprised to see the Voice of Life’s quarters hidden in such a remote place, but Flygon had long been accustomed to Hydreigon’s eccentricities. 

Flygon ratted his claws rhythmically against the wooden door.

“Come in!” A cheerful yet raspy voice replied.

“Pardon me, Naran.” Flygon opened the door and dipped his head respectfully. “I hope I am not too early.”

“Of course not.” Hydreigon replied, smiling at him warmly, sitting in the center of the room. “You are always right where you need to be, Ajax.”

“Of course.” Ajax sputtered slightly, closing the door behind him with his tail. “Why have you summoned me?”

Hydreigon smiled with a glimmer in his dark eyes. “Do you recall a conversation we once had regarding a treasure called the Prism Globe?”

Ajax blinked, taking a moment to try and recall what Hydreigon was referring to. “Um-” Suddenly, Ajax recalled once reading about such an object recorded in one of the archive’s old books, a book that happened to be placed next to where Hydreigon was sitting. “You mean from the book?” He asked hastily, gesturing to the book with his long tail. 

Hydreigon grinned, baring his pointed teeth. “Yes! Exactly!” He quickly bent to grab the book with his hand-heads and gave it to Flygon.

Ajax took the book and flipped to the page Hydreigon bookmarked. “The Prism Globe?” He asked, looking at the picture of the multicolored orb surrounded by a very familiar golden band. 

“The Tree of Life has told me we should try to find it.” Hydreigon replied. “I don’t truly know why, but I know better than to argue with the will of the planet.” 

Ajax jerked his head slightly in response to this, staring at Hydreigon with wide eyes. “The Tree of Life did what?”

“Well of course.” Hydreigon replied casually. “Me being the Voice of Life is not a thing that has changed; at least to my knowledge.”

“Y-you know what I meant!” Ajax retorted, flapping his wings quickly. “Need I remind you what your visions have ended up foretelling in just the last couple of years.” He muttered, his voice strained with stress. 

“No. It’s not what you think.” Hydreigon said quickly, his expression calm. “While it's true that the Bittercold managed to come back as Dark Matter, the cycle has been stopped.” The dragon smiled slightly. “It appears that the Dark Matter entity has finally been appeased. I have reason to believe it finally has claimed the peace it was searching for.”

Ajax gulped down the lump that formed in his throat. “Ah- My mistake. So-” He flicked his tail awkwardly. “Why do we have to find the Prism Globe now?”

“Other than that the Tree of Life said so, I have no clue.” Hydreigon shrugged. “If the Tree of Life was ever straightforward with its warnings, that would’ve saved _everybody_ a lot of troubles over the years.”

Ajax let out a laugh in response to this. “True! I supposed that’s just the nature of life in general!”

Hydreigon responded with a bark of a laugh. “Exactly!”

The two continued to chuckle for a couple of moments as Ajax looked back at the book and rescanned the page. 

Ajax frowned as he reached a certain detail in the passage. “This treasure is said to be on the Stone Continent. That’s quite the journey from here.”

“Perhaps we can send some of the acolytes there to search for it?” Hydreigon suggested.

“No.” Ajax shut the book forcefully, his eyes narrowed with certainty. “I can go.”

“You want to go by yourself?” Hydreigon asked, staring back at Ajax with a raised brow. “What about Mimikyu?”

Flygon paused for a moment. “I...suppose I’ll bring Yuna with me? I have no reason to believe the trip will be particularly dangerous. As long as she stays at my side, everything should be fine.”

“Yes, well, about that-” Hydreigon chuckled faintly, as if he was trying to hide being worried about something. 

“Yes?” Ajax raised a brow back at him, staring at him patiently.

Hydreigon took in a sharp breath before continuing. “The Tapu Guardians of the Zenith Islands have been acting extra territorial from what I've heard recently.”

“That never bodes well.” The flygon said dryly. When you’ve been in Ajax’s line of work for as long as he has, you learn that angry Legendaries are _never_ a good sign. 

“Indeed!” Hydreigon replied. “Unfortunately, getting details from that side of the world to here is a bit difficult. So I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more than that right now.”

“Well, let’s hope this is just your usual territory dispute.” Ajax grumbled, taking the book to his chest. “Regardless, the Prism Globe-”

“It’s appearance sort of reminds you of the Tree of Life, right? With all of the rainbow colors, and what-not.” Hydreigon said. “I want to bring it up to Xerneas next time I see them.” 

“Not just that-” Ajax opened the book again and began flipping back to the page. “The book also mentions it with the Space-Time Globe, which is said be held in Destiny Tower - if such a place really exists.”

“The Prism Globe, to my understanding, is tied to the elemental types, while the Space-Time Globe is supposed to be able to warp time and space.”

“Then let’s just be thankful we’re dealing with the less metaphysical of the two.” Ajax replied flatly. “Regardless, just looking at ancient tomes isn’t going to do much in actually obtaining it. I should begin making preparations for my journey.”

Hydreigon smirked. “Starting off with telling Yuna, I presume?”

Flygon gently laughed. “Yes! I’ll have to remember to pack her favorite blanket.”

“You’ve been all around the world before, but this will be Yuna’s first time traveling off of the continent.” Hydreigon remarked. “This trip will likely be very exciting to her.”

“I know it will.” Ajax’s voice began to trail off slightly. “M-my main priority will be finding the Prism Globe first and foremost.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“What was that?” Ajax snapped his head around to Hydreigon who was giving him an innocent smile.

Hydreigon tilted his head. “What?”

Ajax’s jaw clenched and he shook his head slightly. “S-sorry. I thought I heard something.”

“Just...remember to prepare for the unexpected.” Hydreigon whispered. “I know you always like to over prepare, but-” He brushed the back of his neck awkwardly with one of his head-hands. “Life doesn’t always go as planned. You never know what could possibly happen.”

Ajax stared at Hydreigon, his eyes with bewilderment. “Wait- do you think something...bad could happen to me.”

“I’m not sure.” Hydreigon replied. “I don’t think you and Yuna are in mortal danger but...I’m sensing-” Hydreigon shut his eyes and paused for a moment as if in great concentration. “Something will happen to you. Something that will change the course of your life.”

Ajax stepped back, sputtering slightly. “H-how-”

“Again! I don’t know the details! But I know you hate surprises!” Hydreigon scoffed lightly and looked to Ajax wistfully. “So I just want you to be prepared to be unprepared.”

_Well that’s helpful._ Ajax snarked internally, his wings twitching irritably. “...Is that...all?”

Hydreigon lowered his head and groaned. “I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut...but yes, that's all.”

Ajax huffed. “Well then-” His eyes darted across the room for a second before he began to turn on his toes. “I should attend to my...preparations. I’ll leave in a couple of days.”

“Remember to keep in touch!” Hydreigon added. “If you need anything, just use a Signal Orb to contact me should anything happen.”

Ajax looked over his shoulder sternly. “I will, old friend. Until then, may the lights guide you.”

Hydreigon slowly nodded. “And you as well.”


	2. The Spear Headers!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team FlareFeather enters the stage.

  
  


“So how about this one?”

The scorbunny took the paper from her rowlett partner, scanning the notice with a penetrating gaze.

She quickly handed the paper back to her partner. “Put it back on the board. A rookie team might need to take it.”

“Ugh.” The rowlett ruffled his feathers. “You know, most dungeon-diving teams don’t pass on missions for being too easy. As far as I’m concerned, if it pays, take it.”

“Well you remember what it was like when we first joined the guild.” The scorbunny turned to him, her nose twitching slightly. “The more experienced teams always took as many missions as possible, which left us with nothing but personal assignments from Aurorus. I’m just trying to give the rookies some choices to choose from.”

“Ughhhh-” The rowlett rolled his head back, groaning much louder and much longer. “Why do you have to be so nice?”

The scorbunny scoffed slightly, glancing at her partner with amusement before reaching up to the board again. “Alright then, Don. What about this one?”

Don raised his head, his eyes going to where his partner was pointing. “Crumble Dome?”

“It's a retrieval mission.” The scorbunny explained, crossing her arms. “Looks like this hattrem lost a family charm.”

“Only 150 poke?!” Don gasped. 

“Whatever happened to ‘If it pays, take it’?” The scorbunny shot her partner an accusatory glare. 

Don crossed his wings haughtily. “Right, right, sorry, Pecha. I’ll keep my beak shut. See this? Zrrp!” Don swiped the tip of his wing over his beak as he made a zipping sound. “No more complaints from me.”

“Besides, we’ve been sitting on some other missions in this dungeon for a while-” Pecha said, pulling the mission notice off the board and beginning to slip it into her pack. “Efficiency is key.” 

“Alright then-” Don twirled around to follow Pecha through the guildhall. “I guess if we’re going to do some other missions, this won’t be a total waste.”

Pecha and Don continued to banter as they traveled down the guildhall to the front, stopping to talk to the porygon-z standing at the front door.

“Team FlareFeather! Where are you heading for today?” Porgon-Z asked, their eyes locked on the pair with intense precision. 

“We’re going to the Crumble Dome, Porygon-Z.” Don replied. “Nothing major or exciting. Just some lost item retrievals.”

The porygon-z summoned a hologram panel in front of them and began tapping inputs on it methodically. “Recorded. Good luck out there.”

With that Pecha and Don passed through the front gate and reached Spear City crossroads.

Pecha whipped out her guild badge, tapping the center button to bring up a small holo panel displaying a map. “All ready?”

Don fluttered behind Pecha and unzipped her pack, checking their inventory. “Oran Berries, Reviver Seeds, Iron Thorns, Escape Orb...we should be good to go!”

Pecha nodded in agreement and decisively tapped on one of the dots on the map, causing the team to be developed in a warping light. 

\---

It’s been a long time since Ajax has been out to sea; longer then he initially thought. 

Years ago, Ajax spent almost more time on boat than on land, a _unique_ choice for a ground-type to say the least. But now-

“Ah, you there.” 

Ajax turned his head to see a grapploct, the captain of this ship.

“Yes, Ms. Grapploct? Is there something you need?” He asked, sputtering slightly from the stray drops of sea spray that hit his face from across the edge of the boat. 

“Ms. Glapploct?” She echoed mockingly. “C’mon Flygon, no need for that talk here.”

Ajax blinked slightly. “S-sorry. It has been a couple of years since we last met.”

“So it has.” Grapploct growled, pulling a flask up to her mouth. “Doesn’t mean that I have to pretend that this is your first time in the company of pirates.”

Ajax gasped as he felt the mimikyu nestled against his chest beginning to stir. “B-be quiet. You might wake Yuna.”

“Please, she’s on a boat in the middle of the sea. I’m impressed she’s managed to last this long as it is.” Grapploct chuckled, glancing at Ajax. “So why are you heading to the Stone Continent anyways?” 

Ajax laughed weakly. “You won’t believe me anyways. I’m on a mission from the Tree of Life.”

“Ah, more of your ‘Lifey-Spirit’ nonsense. Should have figured as much.” She took another swig from her flask, coughing slightly, before wiping a tentacle over her mouth sheepishly. “So what exactly are you doing? Is it a rescue mission? An escort? Maybe even outlaw hunting?”

Ajax laughed again, this time much more excitedly and louder than he intended. “No, no, actually-” He stopped and clicked his tongue. “Well, I shouldn’t tell you. You’re a pirate after all.”

“That just makes me even more curious!” She laughed back at him.

“Yes, well...you acknowledge my point though, don’t you?” Ajax retorted jokingly. 

Grapploct turned her gaze back to the ocean, her eyes narrowing. “...The waves have been getting bigger, haven’t they?”

Ajax quickly snapped his head, his eyes focusing on the horizon ahead and...the waves have grown a bit more choppy.

“Yes, a bit.” He mumbled noncommittally, knowing _certainly_ what those types of waves meant. 

“Captain Locket!”

With that shout, Yuna finally stirred from her slumber, wiping her beady eyes with a shadowy arm. “Gongon? Are we there yet?”

Ajax quietly shushed her, cradling her closer to him again. “No, not yet Yuna, go back to sleep.”

“Salami!” Grapploct jerked her head around, crossing her tentacle arms behind her back as she approached the salandit that had just ran up to them. “What is it?”

“We’ve just received a report from mainland!” The salandit replied, pulling out a crystal orb. “A massive whirlpool has just appeared in the middle of our current course!”

Ajax and Locket exchanged tense looks.

“Can we change our course in order to go around it?” Grapploct asked, her voice stern and bold. 

“We’re trying! But Barraskewda says that the tides are already to strong!” Salandit answered, clearly on the verge of panic.

Ajax, fluttered forward, still clutching onto Yuna. “I-”

“Ajax, you and Yuna should go below deck.” Grapploct interrupted imposingly. “Be prepared for some rough sailing.”

Ajax quickly glanced down at Yuna, who despite everything, managed to drift back into sleep. “Yes, of course.” He shuddered, feeling a cold chill pass from his antennas to the tip of his tail. 

“Landlubber!” Grapploct roared, causing Salandit to jump. “Do everything you can to change our course and get the boat ready for rough seas!”

“Y-yes, Captain!” Salandit shrieked, quickly scurrying off to the head of the boat. 

Ajax took one last look at the captain before he made his way below deck.

Grapploct had her tentacles crossed over her chest with a downcast gaze. “Seas like this...it's Tapu Fini. No doubt.”

\---

The Crumble Dome used to be an ancient Colosseum, twisted and corrupted into a mystery dungeon; complete with shifting rooms, randomly appearing stairs and most disturbingly, feral and animalistic pokemon.

Pecha and Don ascended from a set of stairs, being greeted by two simultaneous ‘ping’ sounds.

Pecha and Don both pulled out their respective badges. 

“This is the floor.” Pecha confirmed.

“What are we looking for again?” Don grumbled, his head rotating as he examined the immediate vicinity. “Like some fancy ribbon or something? A scarf?”

“A necklace.” Pecha corrected flatly. “From the client’s description, it’s a metal chain with a dull-purple crystal.”

“Dull-purple?” Don repeated, raising his brows as if to say ‘Are you sure?’.

“Looking at the picture…” Pecha clicked the button on her badge and pulled up a holographic picture. “It almost looks like a Dusk Stone shard.”

“Huh?” Don pulled up a panel from his badge. “Isn’t the client a Hattrem? Why would she need a Dusk Stone?”

“It’s not our place to ask questions. We just have to get the job done.” Pecha said, stuffing her badge back into her pack without ceremony. “Also, look behind you.”

  
  


Don quickly rotated his head around and jumped as he saw a dewpider stalking up on him. “Hoot! Get the heck away from me!” He squawked as he clumsily tossed some razor leaves on his assailant. 

The dewpider scuttled closer to Don, hissing threatening as Don kept fluttering back.

“Oh come on.” Pecha groaned before leaping towards the dewpider. “Don’t worry, I’ve got it!”

The scorbunny grunted as she swung a flame-charged kick into the dewpider’s lower body, sending it flying back into the darkness of the labyrinth.

“Ahem.” Don cleared his throat, patting down some of his feathers. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Pecha replied smugly, readjusting the strap of her pack. “Now come on. Let’s get moving.”

The Crumble Dome was home primarily to bug-types and rock-types, so the team quickly fell into a routine of letting Pecha deal with the bug-types and Don with the rock-types. 

It was only after passing through a couple more rooms that the duo found the object in question. 

“Welp, here it is.” Don said, dangling the necklace from his wing. 

“That’s our last mission here. Let’s report back to the guild.” Pecha replied with a neutral expression. 

With that she pulled out her badge and the team was once more enveloped in a bright light and transported out of the labyrinth. 

\---

“Thank you for delivering me my apple!”

The skwovet handed Pecha a pouch of coins and tiny reviver seeds, a wide smile on their face.

“You’re welcome.” Pecha and Don replied simultaneously, both of their tones admittedly flat and insincere. 

“Oh, excuse me!” A hattrem walked up to the front of the bulletin board when the skwovet left. 

“Renee Hattrem?” Don asked, checking his paper list.

“Yes, that’s me.” She politely nodded. “Thank you for retrieving my necklace.” As she said that, she lifted the necklace slightly from around her neck, giving Pecha and Don a warm smile. “Here’s your reward.”

Pecha noticed Don’s posture straightening as he saw the reward pouch; it looked much bigger than just 150 currency. 

_The other reward for the mission was listed as ‘?’._ Pecha recalled, watching Don hastily grab the pouch. _I wonder what the other reward could possibly have been._

“It’s a-” Don cocked his head, staring at the crystal ball he was holding. “Some...sort of orb…?”

“That’s a Lucky Orb.” The hattrem replied sweetly. “Having one staves off bad luck. You know, like random tripping, bad weather, Monster Houses and the sort.”

“Oh so it’s fake.” Don said in a whisper that was definitely loud enough for the hattrem to hear, which she did because she obviously flinched at the sound of this.

Pecha slapped the rowlett on the back. “Don!”

“I-I mean it's totally-” Don stammered, his head spinning around anxiously, but the damage has already been done.

The hattrem stepped, her gaze settled on the ground below her. “My family has been making crystal orbs for years. My aunt has always kept an orb like that nearby. I couldn’t think of any other way to repay you-”

Pecha quickly looked over her shoulder and saw Porygon-Z floating towards the team with angry eyes.

_Crap._ Pecha clasped a paw over Don’s beak and pushed him back, walking towards Hattrem.

“I’m so sorry about my partner. Your reward is always appreciated. I appreciate your gift.”

A small smile returned to Hattrem’s face. “Thank you.” She said softly. “I should just go.” She choked slightly as she spun around and began to make her way to the guild exit.

Pecha was about to go follow her when was stopped by the sound of loud, robotic yelling.

“Team FlareFeather! You two need to meet with the Guildmaster.” Porygon-Z paused for emphasis. “ _Again._ ”

\---

“Zane told me that you are still having trouble dealing with clients.” The Guildmaster, Aurorus, said pacing in her office across from where Pecha and Don were standing. “What happened this time?”

Pecha gave Don an accusatory gaze, prompting him to step forward.

“It was me. Again.” Don stuttered, his feathers fluffing up like they always did when he was nervous. “I got smart with a client again about the reward.”

Aurorus took a sharp breath. “Before you go further, I want to remind you that the last time something like this something, you told me that it wouldn’t happen again, and yet-”

Don averted his gaze down to the floor.

“Pecha, Don.” The Guildmaster began, settling an icy glare on the pair. “You two are some of the finest apprentices I’ve ever seen and you have gone up the ranks in record time, however, as time has passed, I keep getting the sense that you two have fallen into a routine of sorts. A routine that has encouraged some bad habits.”

_Hasty. Impatient. Selfish._ Those were some recent examples of words used to describe Pecha’s team’s conduct, and she couldn’t deny it. 

“My problem is…” Aurorus sighed. “I’m not sure how else to help. Whether it’s simple missions or difficult missions, the same problem keeps occurring that doesn't have much to do with your actual performance in dungeons; it always involves your treatment of people.”

Pecha gasped, feeling a shudder pass through her. “Are...are you saying we’re a lost cause?”

Pecha felt as if her soul was being judged during the following moment of silence.

“...No.” The Guildmaster replied finally. “Of course not. It just means that...I’ve had to come up with a new solution, if you two are willing to give it a shot.”

Pecha and Don looked at each other hesitantly; Don was visibly shaking, but they both gave each other a consenting nod. 

“Sure.” Pecha answered, looking back at Aurorus. “What do you have in mind?”

“To be quite honest, there’s not much left to teach you two when it comes to dungeon exploration. What I’ve decided instead is this: instead of your main duties being focused on field work, you two will instead carry out guild duties in town. Helping the city’s local businesses and services.” She explained slowly.

_That sounds like rookie work._ An angry, small voice said in the back of her head, but she knew better and ignored it. She also knew enough to put her paw out and stop Don from saying what they were both thinking aloud. 

“We’ll do it, Guildmaster.” Pecha replied, cutting Don off purposefully.

“Just- How long will we have to do this?” Don managed to ask, ducking under Pecha’s paw.

“You mean other than however long I say so?” Aurorus retorted sternly. “But in all seriousness, because I do have high hopes for you, I don’t think this phase should take more than a month.”

_A month? That’s not too bad._ Pecha remarked. She expected far worse.

Don didn’t share this sentiment if his loud squawking was a sign of anything. “A mon-”

Both Pecha and the Guildmaster glared at him.

Don’s wings pulled back against his round body and sighed in defeat. “Sorry. I promise I’ll try to stay on my best behavior and control my outbursts, Guildmaster.”

“I’m going to hold you to that Don.” Aurorus replied flatly. “That said, do you have any questions to start out? Again, I don’t wish to throw you into anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

Pecha raised a paw. “I have a question. Does this mean we’re going to stop doing field missions?”

“Yes and no.” Aurorus replied, but her tone had become much softer now and her eyes displayed the hint of a smile. “You will still be able to do field missions but you won’t be allowed to take them from the bulletin board. For now, I will be handing out missions directly.”

Pecha smiled at the sound of this and she heard Don excitedly flapping wings as he was prone to do when he was happy about something.

“This is because I know you know you can handle exploration missions and I’ve been planning on assigning you these missions for a while anyways. That said, the main purpose of this is to improve your social skills and I just so happened to find this situation to be the most promising.” The Guildmaster explained further. “Remember, this is a privilege, and while I don’t expect you two to mess up so terribly as to lose it, it's something you should be aware of regardless.”

“I see.” Pecha murmured in reply, once again feeling a pressure begin to exert itself on her.

“Your new duties will start tomorrow. For now, you two are dismissed.” Aurorus nodded her head gently. “Thank you.”

Pecha looked to Don, who once again was looking apprehensive but said nothing.

“We won’t let you down, Guildmaster.” Pecha bowed her head in reply. 


	3. The Stranger From the Land of Sand!

“Easy! Easy! And...hup!” Pecha and Don both grunted as they hoisted the heavy wooden crate into the storage building behind the Kecleon Shop. 

“Thank you Team FlareFeather for your assistance.” The kecleon merchant said approvingly, walking up to the pair. “Same time tomorrow, yes?” She asked with a coy smile on her face.

Don grumbled under his breath and Pecha wiped a bead of sweat off of her face. 

“Y-yeah, that’s the plan.” Pecha replied, still panting from exhaustion. “See you tomorrow, Ms. Kecleon.”

The kecleon merchant waved goodbye and walked around the building back towards her stall while Don and Pecha slumped against the wall of the store building.

“OK-” Pecha huffed, bringing up a holo-panel from her badge. “Next on the list is to wipe down counters and help cook at the Indeedee Hotel. Let’s get moving.” Pecha began to weakly hoist herself back up while Don reached out to stop her.

“S-slow down. We don’t have to go right away. Can we rest for a bit…?” Don asked weakly, still trying to catch his breath.

“The faster we work, the sooner we can get back to work as usual.” Pecha replied irritably, wobbling on her feet slightly due to her remaining fatigue. 

Without warning, Don began frantically waving a wing in front of Pecha’s unfocused eyes. “Snap out of it, Pecha! C’mon! Can we at least take a small snack break? You look like you’re about to collapse.”

Pecha managed to grab Don’s wing, blinking her eyes back into focus. “But Don-” The rowlet quickly caught her before she tripped over her own stumbling feet. “OK, OK-” The scorbunny finally sighed in defeat, still slumped in Don’s wings. “We’ll take a break.”

_About time.’_ Don snarked internally. “C’mon.” Don heaved slightly as he helped carry Pecha over to a nearby tree stump. 

“Thanks.” Pecha replied, taking her seat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

Don huffed, falling onto the grass beneath him with little grace. “It’s fine, Pecha! Just relax for a bit.” With that, he stuck a wing into his pack and pulled out an apple, taking a large bite out of it.

“I just don’t like sitting still for too long.” Pecha weakly murmured, pulling a water canteen out of her own pouch. 

“That’s something you and I _don’t_ have in common.” The rowlet replied pointedly, still chewing apple. “Sometimes you just gotta roll back and let it be.” 

“You _would_ think that wouldn’t you.” Pecha retorted playfully. “Hehe…”

Pecha’s awkward chuckling was followed by a moment of complete silence and Don had his thoughts drift towards a certain _cataclysmic event_ from about five years ago that had almost every pokemon on earth forced to stand perfectly still like stone. 

_Maybe that’s why Pecha hates standing still for too long?_ Don internally pondered. Admittedly, Don had a hard time grasping that the world almost ended five years ago and even a harder time processing what that was supposed to mean for him.

Pecha and Don were just expected to live life as normal, pretending that them and their families weren’t turned into lifeless husks as the _Tree of Life_ or whatever it was that was dying under mysterious circumstances. Since that day, most pokemon have just resumed their daily routines but Don never really sat well with that. He wanted to _understand_ how that end of the world almost happened and who was responsible. Who were the mysterious heroes that saved the world from desolation?

Don glanced at Pecha, who seemed to be relaxing with a calm expression. 

_Am I the only one who worries about this so much?_

\---

After their break, Pecha and Don began to make their way to the Indeedee Hotel, only to see Comfey, one of the city's resident nurses talking with other medics in front of the hotel’s main door.

Don immediately turned to Pecha, who was giving him a panicked look. 

Before Don could say anything, Pecha was already sprinting her way over to Nurse Comfey.

“Nurse Comfey!” Pecha shouted, skidding to a stop in front of the fairy-type. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, you’re some of the guild volunteers!” Comfey responded, turning to look at the approaching team. “I’m sorry, but you might have to come back later. We got a report of a pokemon coming here and immediately collapsing!”

“Are they still inside?” Don said, fluttering forward. 

Comfey nodded. “Yes, we’re trying to see what their condition is before we bring them to the hospital. Actually, since you two are here, would you mind helping?”

“Yeah, sure, but we’re supposed to be helping at the Hotel, instead-”

Don was cut off by Pecha shushing him harshly, giving him a warning glare.

_Oh right. I need to be on my best behavior._ Don reminded himself, clamping his beak shut. “I mean, we would be happy to help the hospital!” He corrected himself in a sickenly sweet tone while forcing a smile.

Comfey moved one of her tiny hands to gesture the team inside. “Then come on in.”

Pecha and Don followed Comfey inside where they were met by Eldegoss, the hotel’s co-manager.

“The stranger is in the first room down the hall.” Eldegoss said immediately, pointing his wooden cane down the hallway in question. “He doesn’t look injured, but he’s definitely under dire straits.”

“Thank you.” Comfey replied quickly, before hastily floating through the lobby towards the room in question.

Don and Pecha followed suit, entering the room behind Comfey.

Resting in the bed inside the room was a large, green pokemon with diamond-shaped wings and a long antenna. Next to him, was Indeedee, the hotel’s head manager, who was watching the sick pokemon intently, their brow knitted in concern.

_Must be a flygon._ Don guessed, turning to watch as Comfey began to examine the patient. 

“Do you know where he’s from?” Comfey asked, beginning to feel the pokemon’s forehead, glancing towards Indeedee. 

“Well I can’t be certain but-” Indeedee began, nervously fiddling with his hands. “But I found his ID card in his bag and it says he's from the Sand Continent.”

“The Sand Continent?” Don echoed in shock. 

“That’s quite a long ways from here.” Pecha replied flatly, crossing her arms. “How’d he get here?”

Comfey continued to examine the pokemon’s condition, her eyes widening as she stopped her hand over his chest. “His lungs are waterlogged.”

“What?” Pecha asked, her ears perking up.

“If he took a boat here, they might’ve got caught and turned over just off shore! He might’ve been able to make it to the hotel before succumbing to fatigue.” Comfey explained quickly. “Somebody hand me a Drought Orb and a Cleanse Orb.” 

A cutiefly, one of Comfey’s apprentices handed them two small orbs (medical orbs were much smaller than those used by dungeon explorers) and charged the Drought Orb over the flygon’s chest. 

“Somebody help hold him down.” Comfey ordered and Indeedee, Don and Pecha immediately pinned down his arms. 

Comfey stuck a wooden tool into the pokemon’s mouth, opening his jaw, revealing his pointed draconic teeth and managed to charge the Cleanse Orb in his mouth, releasing a spray of water. 

With that, the flygon began shuddering as he hacked with a cough.

Don and Pecha struggled to keep the arm they were holding pinned down as the stranger began to stir.

“W-where am I?” The flygon said weakly, craning his neck forward. “Is this-” He sputtered with another cough. “Spear City?”

“Please relax!” Comfey urged, floating towards his head. “Yes, this is Spear City. Can you tell us your name?” 

“Flygon, Ajax.” The stranger replied, his voice still hoarse and small.

This was the first time Don had learned a stranger’s personal name in a professional, clinical context and he didn’t quite know what to think about knowing such a personal detail about somebody he hasn’t even really met.

“Flygon, can you tell us what you remember?” Comfey began, still trying to sooth Flygon down.

“Yuna- Mimikyu-” The flygon’s eyes widened, and Pecha and Don were quickly flung off from the arm they were trying to restrain. “Where’s Mimikyu?” The flygon growled, now having shaken off Indeedee from his arm and sat up straight.

“No Mimikyu has been seen here sir-” Indeedee answered, beginning to step away cautiously from the flygon.

“What?” Flygon replied, his face going pale in what Don could only describe as despair. “Are you sure?” Flygon asked, his voice wavering with desperation.

“Did this Mimikyu come with you?” Pecha asked, trying to remain calm.

“Yes, she’s my daughter!” Flygon cried, his tail whipping past Don, starting the rowlet. “She was on the ship with me when...we…” His voice trailed off, but the heavy breathing of his chest only quickened.

“Please, try to calm down.” Comfey replied, beginning to glow with a subtle pink light, signifying she was using aromatherapy.

“Our ship- we got stuck at a storm at sea.” Flygon choked out, his voice cracking heavily as his face quickly reddened. “I have to go find her!”

“We can’t let you in your condition.” Comfey replied, trying to guide his head back to the pillow of the bed. 

“If this pokemon is missing, the guild should be notified right away.” Pecha added, tapping her foot on the wooden floor. “Me and my partner can notify them on their behalf.”

“Yes, please do!” Flygon cried out. “Please, she’s all I have, I can’t afford to-”

“Shhh-” Comfey tried to pull his head back down, soothing him once more. “We understand. Scorbunny. Rowlet.” She turned to the duo. “Go to the guild.”

“Don’t worry about your shift.” Indeedee said, stepping forward. “I’ll let Aurorus know about the situation.”

“Got it.” Don replied, nodding his head. 

“C’mon, Don.” Pecha said, already waiting for him in the doorway. “Let’s mosey.”

\---

Don and Pecha followed guild protocol for the situation. They told Porygon-Z and Aurorus about the missing mimikyu. Of course, without knowledge of her whereabouts, an official job couldn't be posted for Mimikyu’s rescue; it was Porygon-Z’s job to communicate with other explorers electronically and using tracking devices in order to discern her location. However, without any real direction as to her whereabouts, what everybody was waiting for was Flygon’s full recovery so he could accurately give details that could be used to find where Mimikyu was. If she was in a dungeon (which she most likely was), then a job bulletin would be posted in the next couple of days. 

At least that’s Don’s recollection about how the whole process worked. 

Knowing that, the next day, Don and Pecha decided that volunteering at Comfey’s hospital would be the best course of action and see if they could be the first to get any details from Flygon. 

Was this tactic a bit shady? Almost certainly, but Don and Pecha were used to this type of info gathering by now. _‘Besides, Flygon technically owes us.’_ Don justified himself as he and Pecha arrived at the large medical tent located in the city’s plaza.

“Hello, Team FeatherFlare!” The cutiefly stationed at the tent’s entrance chirped.

“Actually, it’s Team FlareFeather-” Pecha responded a bit coldly, meaning it was Don’s turn to give her a warning glare. “Oh, right.” She whispered back at Don through gritted teeth before turning her head back to Cutiefly. “Uh, we’re here to help volunteer.” Pecha explained, taking a small step forward. 

Cutiefly gave the duo a pleasant smile. “Wonderful! I’ll log you two in right away! Go to the back of the tent to help stock the supply racks.” 

Pecha and Don followed her instructions and began to make their way inside the tent where a couple of pokemon, patients and nurses alike, were strewn about engaging in quiet discussion. Pecha and Don’s gazes both focused on Flygon however, who was sitting up in his cot talking to Nurse Comfey. 

From where Don was standing, it looked like Flygon was in much better health, though the dark spots under his goggle-eyes indicated that he didn’t get much help. 

“Should we talk to him now?” Don whispered to Pecha as they kept walking.

“No.” Pecha answered. “Let's do our job first and see if we can chat with him on the way out.”

Don grumbled in response. “Ugh, fine.”

Just as Don turned his head away from Flygon he saw Flygon turn his own gaze towards the duo. Don turned his head back around to check only to be greeted by a tug on his wing.

“C’mon, Don.” 

The rowlett stumbled as his partner dragged him past the wooden partition that separated the storage area of the medical tent from the main hospital. 

The cabinets were labeled off into things like “Bandages”, “Potions” and other medicinal supplies. Lying on the floor scattered about were some cardboard boxes.

Pecha opened one of the boxes and began handing bottles to Don. “Okay, so these are all Reviver Seeds. Make sure you separate them by size.”

Don fluttered up on the countertop so he could actually reach the cabinets, before reaching out to grab the bottles out of Pecha’s paw. “I got it, I got it!” He muttered and they began restocking.

While Don and Pecha were both known for being easily distracted at times, as long as they kept an eye on eachother and managed to get into a groove, they were very efficient when it came to repetitive tasks like restocking cabinets. Sure, Don would much rather be out in the field right now but he currently had to take his current predicament in stride. 

Don and Pecha had already made their way through the pack of reviver seeds and began sorting through the oran berry and sitrus juice potions when they were both startled by a large thump coming from behind them.

“Crap!” Pecha yelled as the bottle she was holding slipped out of her paw and began making a free fall towards the floor. 

Don dove off of the countertop with little grace, yelling incoherently himself as he miraculously caught the bottle with one of wings; well, he would have if he didn't land on his other wing so awkwardly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” 

Don was too busy wincing to even look toward the sound of the newcomer’s voice. “Owowowow ow ow ow…”

“Oh no. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m-” Don made an undignified shrieking sound as he felt three claws grab his head. 

“Oh for goodness sake.” Don heard Pecha grumble. “Don, please pull yourself together-”

Don managed to open his eyes to glare at Pecha. “Oh shut up, Pecha! I’m dying here-” Just then, Don turned his head and saw Flygon staring at him.

Don once again fluttered backwards, and felt his breath leaping out of his tiny lungs. “WHAT THE HECK!?”

Pecha groaned, dragging a paw down her face. “Oh come on. Flygon, please excuse my partner. He does this often.”

“Oh, um-” Flygon retracted his hand quickly. “No, it’s my fault. It wasn’t my intention to startle you.” He said sheepishly, lowering his head as if to make himself look smaller. “Listen, I just want to talk with you.”

“With us?” Pecha replied curtly, tilting her head curiously. “Why?”

At this point, Don managed to pull himself back on his feet and was staring back at Flygon in befuddlement as well.

“I’ve been told that you two are apprentices at the Aurorus Guild.” Flygon stated, beginning to straighten his neck again. “Is this true?”

“Yeah, we are.” Pecha answered back. “What about it?”

Flygon began to frown. “I think I know where Yuna, er, Mimikyu is. After discussing things with the local dispatch officers, I think she’s currently at Waste Swamps.”

“Blech!” Don spat out his tongue in disgust. “The Waste Swamps are horrible!”

Pecha jabbed him with her elbow. “And very dangerous for a fairy-type like Mimikyu.” 

“That’s why I want to speak with you.” Flygon replied, his voice grave. “The nurses say I need to stay here for a couple of more days so I need the help of a rescue team.” He took in a deep breath and sighed. “-For reasons I can’t go into, I don’t want to use a public bulletin board to arrange for her rescue. However, since you two were there to help me yesterday, I was wondering if you two could take the job for me.”

Don immediately turned to Pecha. Pecha’s gaze was turned to the ground and she appeared to be in deep thought.

“You two will be rewarded handsomely!” Flygon tacked on desperately. “Mimikyu is everything to me! Whatever price you need, I’ll pay it.”

While one part of Don was unquestionably ecstatic at the idea of this reward, he also noticed how desperate Flygon sounded. _This guy probably won’t get any sleep until she’s rescued._ Don thought. _We have to help him._

“No.”

Don snapped his head around to Pecha, eyes wide and mouth agape. “NO?” He echoed.

“I’m so sorry Flygon but-” Pecha took a deep breath. “Me and my partner are currently banned from taking dungeon requests. We would love to take the job but I- out Guildmaster- she- She won’t allow it right now. Y-you’re going to have to go elsewhere for help.”

Flygon’s face crumbled. “I-I’m sorry.” He managed to choke out. “I see.” He weakly cleared his throat. “In that case, I suppose I’ll have to go to the guild.”

“Hey, listen! We’re sorry about this-” Don cut in, hopping forward. “Listen, maybe me and Pecha can talk to Aurorus and-”

“Don!” Pecha lightly jabbed the rowlet again. “Don’t get his hopes up.”

“Please let me know if you change your mind.” Flygon pleaded. “I understand if you can’t but I need somebody I can trust to help.” He sighed again, slumping over. “I- I’m going to put up a mission on the Guild’s bulletin board until then but if you two could take the job first, I’d deeply appreciate it.”

“O-OK”. Pecha replied, stuttering. “Again we’d love to help but- I’m sorry.” She huffed. “Our hands are a bit tied right now.”

“I see.” Flygon muttered. “Just- please help if you can.” Flygon turned away, and began to walk back to the main portion of the tent.

As soon as he was out of sight, Don quickly hopped in front of Pecha. “Pecha! We gotta take his case!” 

“But what about the Guildmaster-” She shot back.

“Who cares!? We tell her to let us take the job!” Don shouted. “I mean, he did specifically request us-”

“I don’t know about this.” Pecha argued, averting her gaze. “We’ve barely even started the new schedule.”

“Schedule!?” Don squawked. “Who cares about schedules!? Someone could be dyiiiiiinnnnnnggggg-.” He said whiningly. 

“What’s this about dying?” Suddenly, Comfey peeked her head inside the storage area, staring at Don and Pecha with horror.

Pecha slapped a paw over her face, grimacing. “Do you ever keep your mouth shut?”


	4. The Rags and Riches!

Pecha shuffled on her feet as she waited quietly outside of the Guildmaster’s office, feeling increasingly impatient with the quiet of the old guild halls.

“Ugh. What’s taking her so long?” Don grunted, crossing his wings. “You know, after 15 minutes pass, I think we should legally be allowed to just go and do the mission anyways!” He said with a smirk.

Pecha fiercely shook her head. “Can you please be patient!? It’s bad enough you already dragged me over here before we could even talk about this.”

“Talk about what?” Don spread his wings and gawked at her. “Mimikyu’s life is on the line! You’re the one who mistepped by rejecting Flygon’s job without asking me!”

“Because Aurorus told us we’re not allowed to take field jobs!” Pecha spun to face the rowlett and snapped at him. “It’s not our place to be taking jobs right now!”

“Yes, but from an ethical point of view-” Don began, grinning mischievously. “Isn’t it technically worse of us to delay helping somebody just because of formalities?”

“AGH!” Pecha pulled her ears down and roared in frustration. “YOU ARE SO ANNOYING!!!”

“So are you!” Don pointed a wing at her in retort. “Just in a more stuffy, goody-two-shoes sort of way-”

The duo quickly dissolved into loud bickering as Aurorus slowly tread up from behind them.

“Um-” Aurorus said in a confused tone. “Team FlareFeather? Is there something a matter?”

The duo froze and Pecha began to slowly turn to face the Guildmaster.

“Oh! Guildmaster.” Pecha straightened her posture, craning her head in order to meet Aurorus’s gaze. “Yes. Me and Don- we-”

“Can you let us take a field mission?” Don chirped as he hopped forward. 

Aurorus raised her brow in confusion. “A field mission? Forgive me, but you two are still restricted from doing any field mission of the sort without my order.”

“I know, but the client specifically requested for us to take the job.” Don replied innocently.

This seemed to get Aurorus’s attention as she took a step back. “The client wants you two specifically? Have you already spoken with them?”

“The client is that Flygon who collapsed at the inn yesterday.” Pecha answered. “His daughter is lost in a mystery dungeon. He seems to be very worried about letting random people take the job so he specifically requested us since we helped him at the inn before.”

“Hmm.” Aurorus hummed contemplatively, clearly in deep deliberation. “I’ll admit, that would be a pretty good reason to let you two take the job-”

Pecha’s chest rose as she drew in a deep breath.

“But my decision is final.” The guildmaster said sternly.

Pecha sighed and felt her body slump.

“I will speak to Flygon and try to alleviate his worries. For now, the job will be posted on the bulletin board as usual.” Aurorus explained. “I will say that so far you two have been taking the new arrangement in stride. Don’t think your efforts have gone unappreciated now. I hope you two will keep up the good work.” With that, Aurorus simply nodded at Pecha and Don and made her past them and continued down the stone halls.

Pecha turned to Don, rolling her eyes. “I told you so.”

The rowlet spat out his tongue. “Oh please! This is all part of the plan. I’m just playing the long game!”

Pecha crossed her arms and gave the owl a perplexed expression. “Oh?”

Don quickly turned his head the other direction, the corners of his beak stretched awkwardly. “The game just might be a bit longer than usual.” 

“Oh.” Pecha deadpanned. 

“Whatever.” Don shrugged his wings, taking a few steps down the hallway. “C’mon. Let’s go to the mess hall and knock off so I can try nagging Aurorus again.”

“Alright.” Pecha said in agreement and began to follow Don. “ _That said though-”_ Pecha pondered. _“I do have to worry about Mimikyu and Flygon. Something just doesn’t sit right with me about this. And I can’t help but feel it’s my fault.”_ The scorbunny took one last look behind her, towards the Guildmaster’s Office. _“Oh well. There’s nothing I can do.”_

\---

The evening came and went at the guild. Pecha and Don first tried to locate Aurorus by bugging Porygon-Z about it but they immediately snapped at them and gave them new jobs around town to do. Having reached a slight road block, Pecha and Don decided to cut their losses and make their way to town, but not before checking the bulletin board to see if Flygon posted his job up there instead.

Don was keeping watch as Pecha sneaked over to the bulletin board, his dexterous head on full swivel as Pecha tried to shuffle stealthily across the room. With Don’s raised wing as the signal, Pecha bounded over to the bulletin board.

_“Ok, be quick. Don’t let Porygon-Z see you-”_ Pecha told herself as she quickly scanned the list. _“Waste Swamps; Client: Flygon! This is it!”_ Without thinking, Pecha bounded off the ground to grab it, only for two pairs of hands to grab it right from under her.

_“What the-”_ The scorbunny swung her head around, feeling her heart stop with her realization. _“OH NO-”_

“Well, would you look at that!” The bug type standing next to her said, scanning the job posting. “Must be my lucky day!”

“Ledian!” Pecha louded, no longer giving any regard to whether or not Porygon-Z caught her. “What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you that, Lucky Rabbit.” The bug-type responded, smirking at Pecha. “Aren’t you and Feathers over there supposed to be grounded or something?”

Pecha struggled to come up with a clever retort while Ledian gave the job flier another look. 

“Sweet Koko!” The ledian exclaimed. “Nick! Amber! Get a look at this reward!”

_“Reward?”_ Pecha paused for a moment before remembering something Flygon said yesterday. 

_“Mimikyu is everything to me! Whatever price you need, I’ll pay it!”_

_“Oh no, Flygon- What did you do?”_ Pecha was already bounding in panic towards where Ledian, Thievul, and Ambipom - Team Fortune - were gawking over the paper.

“Haha!” Ledian shrieked triumphantly. “We’re rich! Well, we would be if we weren’t already!” 

“Hey, what’s going here!?” Don squawking, fluttering over. Pecha would make a remark at Don for only stepping in when hearing that money was involved but she was honestly too enraged to give a hoot anymore. _(Poor choice of wording.)_

“Team Fortune, knock off for once!!!” Pecha spat, kicking her feet off the ground violently. “Put that mission back on the board!!!” 

Ledian tilted her head, perplexed. “Why should I? You two aren’t even allowed to go on field missions right now anyways.”

“I DON’T CARE!!!” Pecha screamed, the sound of her voice now echoing within the guild halls. “You guys are thieves!!! Flygon asked us to take the job for him first because he didn’t want to put it up on the board, probably because of teams like you!!!” 

At this point, a crowd of other teams had gathered, but Pecha still couldn’t chill the burning pit in her chest. _This isn’t right._

“What’s going here?” A calm voice said.

Pecha quickly glanced over and saw Aurorus had poked her head into the room and was surveying the hall in confusion. 

Aurorus's eyes widened when she locked eyes with Pecha.

The pit of fire that had been sweltering in Pecha’s chest had finally died down, only to be replaced with frigid cold. _“Oh no.”_ Pecha thought helplessly. _“This is it.”_ The months of training, the years spent with her family to earn enough money to even send her to Spear City. Down the drain.

“Team Fortune?” Aurorus asked suddenly, beginning to march into the hall.

Pecha just ducked and huddled as Aurorus swiftly passed her.

“Team Fortune, what job is that? Don’t tell me that the client is Flygon, Ajax?”

Pecha opened one eye and perked one ear towards the Guildmaster and band of thieves.

  
  


“So what if it is?” Ledian said with challenge in her tone, a tone Pecha never heard anyone direct at the Guildmaster. 

“Team Fortune-” Aurorus drew in a sharp breath. “I must respectfully ask that you put _that_ job back on the board.”

“No can do, Chief.” Ledian replied smugly. “In case you forgot, we’re not your apprentices anymore. We can take whatever jobs we want.”

Pecha could not understand the pure audacity of Ledian. _“And people think me and Don are brats???”_

Aurorus’s glare sharpened and Pecha noticed that the temperature of the room had noticeably dropped. Don was shivering, though to be fair, that could just be out of fear.

The chill throughout the room continued to expand rapidly and Pecha could now see frost forming at the Guildmaster’s feet. Pecha was about to run and heat up Don when the cold suddenly shrank back and Aurorus let out a deep sigh.

“You’re right.” Aurorus said flatly. “As a graduated team, you can take whatever jobs you want.” 

Ledian wiped a hand over her nose and scoffed. 

Aurorus faintly grumbled as she flicked her tail side to side irritably. “I can’t stop you. Go along now.”

Team Fortune slowly turned and exited out the front door.

“Team FlareFeather.” Aurorus whispered quietly. “Can we talk?”

\---

Pecha and Don once more found themselves on the opposing side of Aurorus’s large wooden desk.

“We’re in trouble again, aren’t we?” Pecha choked out.

“No.” Aurorus sighed. “Honestly, if you two stopped assuming the worst all the time, this would be easier.”

This did very little to reassure Pecha but Aurorus continued talking.

“I know that Team Fortune is...ill equipped for a mission like this.” Aurorus said quickly. “Trust me, I’ve been trying to reel them in but since they're independent to the Guild, there’s little I can actually do.”

“So...why are we even having this conversation if _you’re_ not going to do anything?” Don asked in retort.

If it were any other day, Pecha would nudge him in warning but she was already so emotionally exhausted, she just let Aurorus handle the conversation.

Other than a slight twitch of the brow, Aurorus didn’t seem too irritated. “...I think you two should see the job yourself.”

Pecha heard a clicking sound which was followed by a large holographic panel being pulled up on the wall behind Aurorus. Aurorus began using her tail to interact with the panel, scrolling through job postings. “Here’s the reward Flygon offered for the rescue of Mimikyu.” 

The panel displayed a copy of the job flier attached with a mugshot of Flygon.

Pecha began to examine the job details again, stopping at the reward listing.

“1000 UNITS !?” Don and Pecha exclaimed simultaneously, jumping from their seats in shock.

“I knew that Flygon’s reward was going to be lavish, but-” Aurorus stumbled, glancing between the apprentices and the board. “But even I’m a bit shocked at what he was willing to offer.”

In a rare moment of restraint, Don stepped back and folded his wings back against his body, tilting his head in confusion. “That’s...way too much for a simple retrieval mission. Especially one in Waste Swamps, as much as I hate the place.” 

“I think Flygon is letting his feelings cloud his judgement here.” Pecha mused, falling back on her heels. “I know he’s worried about Mimikyu but...he said he came all the way from the Sand Continent. And I get the sense it’s not for a vacation. Flygon could be risking all of his supplies for this.”

Aurorus straightened her neck and looked impressed. “Per usual...you two excel at reading a situation in spite of your age...This is all to say: I agree with you completely.”

“And Team Fortune has never been known for being reliable. You know, with their whole ‘leave it to chance’ thing.” Don replied, cocking his head. “-And the fact they have a history of pickpocketing doesn’t help matters.”

Aurorus just nodded solemnly. 

“So that begs the question-” Pecha placed a paw on her hip. “What should we do about it?” 

Pecha’s question was followed by a brief pause, as Aurorus shifted forward.

“This won’t change anything about our current agreement, but I feel there’s only option to take. I’m going to let you two assist Team Fortune on the mission.”

Don and Pecha quickly exchanged glances, both of their mouths agape. 

Pecha looked up at Aurorus, still gawking. “A-are you sure?”

“When it comes to field missions, you two are some of our best. And right now, time is of the essence.” Aurorus explained. “I’m going to talk to Flygon again and tell him to lower the reward while you two catch up to Team Fortune.”

“-Wait, we have to work with Team Fortune?” Don interjected, clearly annoyed. 

“Again, I can’t force Team Fortune off the job-” Aurorus reiterated. “You two promise to be civil about this, right?” 

Pecha and Don both went silent, giving Aurorus blank stares. 

Aurorus grimaced. “Right?”

Pecha sighed. “Fine. But we’re supposed to keep an eye on them. If we notice them doing anything suspicious, don’t expect us to let it slide.”

“I understand. I’m putting a lot of trust in you two.” Aurorus replied, sounding more tired than anything. 

“We know.” Pecha replied, nodding her head. “And thanks. We won’t let you down.”

“Get going.” The guildmaster urged. “Don’t let Team Fortune leave without you.”

Pecha and Don were already turning for the door when the scorbunny glanced back. “We won’t! C’mon, Don.”

“I’m coming. I’m coming!”

With that, Pecha and Don sprinted out the door and the Guildmaster sighed. 

\---

Pecha’s feet were caked in mud as they made it through the first couple of floors of the swamp-labyrinth, but the pure adrenaline she felt was enough to keep propelling her through the corridors of marsh. 

Don managed to perch himself on a snaggly tree branch ahead and pulled out his team badge. “The tracker says Team Fortune’s on this floor.” 

“Alright.” Pecha huffed, hopping onto a small island of dry land in the room ahead. “Grimer on your left-”

Don’s head swiveled around and he squawked upon seeing the sludge-monster, quickly throwing a geo pebble at it. “Yeah, yeah. I got it!” Don swooped off the branch and began to beat the Grimer with a wind-charged wing, beating it into a puddle of submission.

“I’m impressed, Don!” Pecha snarked, skidding through the mud over to him. “It’s like you’re actually putting some effort in for once!”

“Yeah well-” Don brushed some multicolored pieces of sludge off his chest. “I’m not about to let Team Fortune show us up!”

Pecha smirked and held up a fist triumphantly. “Now _that’s_ the spirit!” 

Don hopped to follow Pecha down the next corridor. “Ah yes, spite. The greatest motivator of all.” He said wistfully. 

“Hold on to that thought, cause we got to move-”

Before Don could ask, Pecha grabbed his wing and whipped a pounce wand out from her bag and swung down the corridor. 

With a blast of wind, Don and Pecha were slung down the path, Don screaming all the way. 

“THE WALL- THE WALL!” Don sputtered in panic just as Pecha wrapped her arms around the rowlet and stuck one of her legs forward, skidding against the marsh, spraying mud in both of their faces. 

“I-” Don stumbled back on his feet, flicking the mud off the tip of his wings in disgust. “HATE THE WASTE SWAMPS!”

“Team FlareFeather?”

Pecha used both of her paws to drag a sheet of mud off her face before turning to the new voice. A familiar voice. An _annoying_ voice. 

From the other side of the room, Ledian was staring at Pecha and Don with an amused expression. “What are you two doing here?” She snickered. 

“Guess what, jerkwads!” Don loudly exclaimed, marching forward. “The tables have turned! Looks like _we’re_ the ones babysitting _you_ this time! HAH!”

Ledian just exchanged some confused expressions with Thievul and Ambipom. 

Pecha, meanwhile, grumbled some critiques at Don under her breath as she joined him. “Ahem- Aurorus said that we’re to be assisting you on this mission.”

“HAH!” Don shouted again, pointing both of his wings towards the other team. “IN YOUR FACE!”

The rowlett proceeded to perform an absolutely ridiculous victory dance that involved lots of wing flips and head bobbing and kicked some more mud up for good measure. 

Of course, the most infuriating thing about this is that Ledian didn’t even look bothered at all. Per usual, she had that dumb smug on her face that she always had. No matter how many times Pecha and Don caught her smuggling soap out of the Indeedee Inn she always had that same placid grin. 

She’s so good at this rival thing.

“Well, it must be our lucky day!” Ledian replied, because of course that’s what she’d say. 

_“Why is she so lucky anyways??? I’ve never seen her use lucky chant or anything and it’s not like her luck only negates critical hits either cause she gets crits all the time but she doesn’t even have Superluck, also she always gets the buff from silver wind and everytime she uses a multi-hit attack she always hits five times. Without fail!!! And gets at least three crits!!! I don’t get it!!!”_

“Guess so.” Is what Pecha decided to say instead, concealing her rage. 

Thievul at least had the dignity to roll his eyes. You know, like rivals are supposed to do. 

“Whatever.” Thievul grumbled, turning away indignantly. “Just as long as you two don’t screw up our mission.” 

“Good! We will!” Don crossed his wings smugly before his eyes snapped open in realization. “-Won’t. We won’t.”

Pecha shook her head, having to do something with her body before she had another outburst for the second time this day. “Can we just go already!?” Pecha groaned, pulling out her team badge. “Mimikyu is just three floors away, so can we try to make this as painless as possible?”

“Yeah sure.” Ledian smirked.

“Whatevs.” Ambipom said, clearly not paying attention to the previous exchange.

“Yes, please-” Thievul said, almost pleadingly.

“What?” Don said, because of course he did.

Pecha let out another exhausted groan and began walking down the next corridor.

\---

Thankfully for everybody’s sanity, the next three floors went by fairly quickly. Until Pecha caught Ambipom trying to steal a Trawl Orb from her pack. And Don pecked Ambipom until he could grab it back. And when he did, he accidentally used it and it just so happened to draw in a kecleon’s wares. After that, all hell broke loose. 

But once Pecha used the last of her Pounce Wand charges to fly to the stairs, dodging an entire swarm of angry kecleon merchants to get there, then everything went smoothly. 

The rest of the party was warped safely and successfully to the dungeon pit.

“Oh Bulu, is it over?” Don croaked, slowly pulling his wings down from his eyes. 

Pecha ran to Don’s side, hoisting him back on his feet. “It’s ok now.” She said softly. “The nightmare is over-”

“JACKPOT!” Ledian shouted suddenly, and quickly buzzed further into the pit. “I found the girl!” She yelled triumphantly, enthusiastically waving her arms above the body of an unconscious mimikyu.

Classy.

“Oh thank Bulu, we can leave.” Don sighed. “I never want to see this place ever again.”

Pecha glanced over to Mimikyu just as Ledian raised her team badge in the air.

“I’m sure Mimikyu echoes those sentiments, Don.” Pecha whispered, before being drowned in a shower of light. 


	5. Reunited!

Ajax ratted his claws against the wooden counter without any real consistent rhythm. 

“Still waiting for news on that job of yours, huh pal?” 

Ajax raised his head to see an indeedee approaching him from the other side of the Indeedee Inn bar counter, absentmindedly scrubbing a glass bottle. 

“Yes.” Ajax replied, his voice low and slurred from his own exhaustion. The flygon coughed slightly, clearing his throat. “A-apologies. I still haven’t gotten much sleep.”

“Hey, you’re fine.” Indeedee said reassuringly. “Trust me, of all the layabout explorers and washed-out...rogues I've seen, you’ve been no trouble at all. Who’s the team that ended up taking your job anyways?”

Ajax frowned. “Some team called Team Fortune. Guildmaster Aurorus doesn’t seem particularly fond of them from the conversations I’ve had with her. What do you know about them?”

The glass bottle Indeedee was cleaning fell to the floor with a loud “clink” sound. Ajax curved his neck over to see that the bottle in question didn’t shatter while Indeedee stayed stunned.

“Um. Indeedee?” Ajax asked.

“Team Fortune?” Indeedee echoed in a whisper. “Team Fortune?” He echoed much louder this time. “Yeah, I know them!” He grunted in irritation. “That team has made a ruckus in my hotel more times than I can count.”

“Oh.” Ajax replied in a small voice. 

“I’ve caught them multiple times smuggling things from their rooms whenever they’ve stayed. Personally, I think Aurorus ought to do something about it…” Indeedee kept grumbling before turning to glance back at Ajax. “...And they’re the ones who took the job?”

Ajax’s mouth hung agape for a few seconds before he spoke back. “...Yes, they are.” He let out a broken sigh and caught his head in his hands. “I shouldn’t have set the reward so high.” 

“Then perhaps you and I can make an arrangement.”

Ajax raised his head again and turned to see Aurorus approaching him from the other side of the inn’s lobby. 

“Follow me, Flygon.” Aurorus started. “I have some good news for you.”

\---

“Ugh. What’s taking him so long?” Ledian slumped against the wall, tapping her foot impatiently.

“Flygon’s going to pick me up, isn’t he?” Mimikyu asked, now conscious and safely swaddled in a blanket at the guild HQ looked around at her rescuers, her voice scared and desperate.

_Poor Mimikyu. She’s just so desperate to get out of here._ Pecha thought, leaning over to the child. _Not that I can blame her. Ledian’s complaints is a torture worse than-_

Mimikyu hacked with a deep cough, snapping Pecha out of her thoughts.

“Don, hand me another pecha berry.” Pecha ordered while she pulled the blanket down from Mimikyu so she could see the child’s mouth. 

“You got it.” Don dropped the berry into Pecha’s hand.

The scorbunny slowly moved the berry over Mimikyu’s mouth. “Here, try to eat this.”

Mimikyu took a small nibble from the berry as Team Fortune continued pacing around the bulletin board, not paying much attention to Don, Pecha or the child they’re supposed to be monitoring. 

Pecha and Don were never the best at the medical treatment of their rescued pokemon and were known for being impatient for the town hospital to take the patients out of their hands. However, Mimikyu is exceptionally young to have been lost in a mystery dungeon and considering how long she must have been inhaling the toxic gases of the swamp require the utmost vigilance from her rescuers until they can let her guardian and the official medical personnel take over. 

All the more reason for Pecha to be agitated with Team Fortune’s “hands-off” approach.

Mimikyu successfully swallowed down a bit of the berry, but not without hacking with another cough, visibly tearing up with pain.

_Her condition is really bad._ Pecha observed, her brow creased in worry. 

Just as she turned to Don to begin pleading for help, the rowlet began making silly and strange faces at Mimikyu. “Hey, Mimikyu~ Look what I can do!” He said irreverently as he shifted from one outrageous expression to another. 

To Pecha’s astonishment, Don’s antics actually worked to bolster Mimikyu’s spirits for a short while as the ghost girl began to giggle as she kept watching the rowlet.

The scorbunny’s attention turned away from her friend and the girl as she heard the sound of large wing flaps come from the guild’s main gate, where she saw a familiar green figure enter the hall. 

  
  


“Gongon!” Mimikyu squeaked, turning her attention to the newcomer.

“YUNA!” Flygon shouted, practically diving towards the girl and lifted her into a tight embrace. “Yuna! Thank the Tree you’re safe!” Flygon sobbed slightly as he pulled Mimikyu even closer over his shoulder. 

Pecha and Don both stepped back in order to let the pair have some privacy; Pecha feeling a particularly strong sense of pride in herself.

“Don.” She said in a low voice.

Don turned and looked up to the scorbunny. “Yeah Pecha?”

Pecha paused for a moment, settling her gaze back on Flygon and Mimikyu. “We did good.”

Don’s eyes lit up and gave Pecha a large smile. “Guess we did.” 

Pecha turned back to Mimikyu and Flygon to see Flygon about to move towards her.

Just as Pecha took a step forward, Team Fortune cut in front of her and walked up to Flygon first. 

“Hey there!” Ledian shouted, snatching Flygon’s hand in a handshake. “We’re Team Fortune and you must be-”

“Ugh, I don’t think I can watch this.” Don grumbled to Pecha. 

“Yeah, this is grinding my gears too.” Pecha whispered back before catching sight of Aurorus from the corner of her eye. “Ah, Guildmaster!” She exclaimed, turning to Aurorus. 

Aurorus smiled at Pecha and Don as she approached. “Were Team Fortune any trouble for you?”

Don opened his beak quickly only to draw out a large “ah” sound. “Ahhhh...Actually, all things considered they weren’t...too bad.” 

Pecha glanced at Don. “I actually have to concede. Team Fortune honestly didn’t really need an escort. Though I’d say it’s still better to be safe than sorry.”

Aurorus’s eyes widened like they usually did whenever she was pleasantly surprised. “I see.”

“-So about the award.”

Aurorus turned and began to walk towards Ledian and Flygon. “Yes, about the reward-” The guildmaster said, stopping next to Flygon. “Flygon, can you give them 200 units for their efforts?”

“You’ll let me change the reward?” Flygon questioned.

Aurorus simply nodded politely. 

“Wait, wait, wait, WAIT!” Ledian quickly fluttered forward. “That’s like eighty-percent less than the reward originally promised!”

“Yes, well-” Flygon stammered, now walking backwards to avoid Ledian attempting to get up in his face threateningly.

“Gongon! What did you do?” Mimikyu asked in a childish accusatory tone.

“I might’ve overreacted and set Yuna’s rescue reward much higher than it was supposed to be.” Flygon replied, now flapping his wings to fly over Ledian. “I’m truly sorry about this! If in your need of more money I’d be happy to throw in a tip.” 

“That won’t be necessary, Flygon.” Aurorus interrupted, her voice now serious. “Team Fortune is actually one of the wealthiest teams in town, aren’t you Ledian?” Aurorus glanced back to Ledian, a warning in her glare.

Ledian’s mood also changed drastically as she quickly adopted an innocent easy-going smile. “Oh, of course, chief! I was just messing with you before with the-uh reward thing-” The insect explained through gritted teeth (mandibles?).

Aurorus simply gave Flygon a knowing smile. 

“Well then. Here’s your reward.” Flygon handed a coin purse to Ledian. “And here’s 25 as a tip.” The dragon dropped another coin in one of Ledian’s free hands.

Ledian took the free coin and dropped it into the coin purse, giving Flygon a stiff smile before twirling around and joining the rest of her team.

“Team FlareFeather?” 

Pecha and Don turned to Aurorus.

“Would you two mind escorting Flygon and Mimikyu to the hospital and then the inn?” 

Pecha was filled with a strange sense of enthusiasm when she heard this. “Of course!”

“Yeah!” Don replied, apparently having the same enthusiasm Pecha did at the moment. 

Aurorus smiled again. “Good, keep up the good work.” 

Pecha smirked with pride as she turned to Mimikyu. “Alright Mimikyu. Why don’t we get the doctors to check up on you?”

\---

It was now evening back at the Indeedee Inn. Ajax and Yuna were sitting in the lobby, now having returned from the hospital. According to Nurse Comfey, Yuna is already on her way to recovery. Ajax was advised to give her regular doses of pecha berry juice for the next couple of days to detox any residual poison, but aside from that, Yuna will be fine.

_Now the question is what do we do now._ Ajax thought. _We lost most of our supplies in the sea surge._

The flygon’s frown grew deeper and his brows furrowed. _-And Locket and her crew are nowhere to be found._ Ajax moved his hand over his satchel, feeling the surface of a book within the bag. _And we’re not exactly in the position to continue our quest as it is. We lost the Signal Orb in the wreck so I don’t even have a way to contact Naran._

Ajax raised his head back and gave a stressed sigh. _Why is the universe testing me like this?_

“Oh! Gongon!” 

Ajax was brought back down to earth by a small tugging sensation on his tail.

“Look!” Yuna chirped, pointing a ghostly limb towards the front door of the inn. “It’s Team FlareFeather!”

Ajax turned to see Scorbunny and Don make their way towards Ajax and Yuna. Both of the young teens had curious glimmers in their eyes and clearly seemed to be moving with purpose and excitement. 

“Ah, Scorbunny. Rowlet.” Ajax began. “I would like to thank you again for helping save Yuna.”

“Think nothing of it, Flygon.” Scorbunny interrupted. “We were just doing our job.” She quickly glanced over to Rowlet. “Aurorus told us to talk with you more.”

Rowlet hopped forward, gesturing a wing towards Ajax. “You and Yuna came from the Sand Continent, is that right?” 

“Yep.” Yuna chirped while Ajax simply nodded.

Scorbunny glanced over her shoulder, showing no expression. “...Right. And how exactly was it you crossed the sea? Was there anybody else traveling with you before you got lost at sea?” She asked, her voice low.

Ajax pulled his head back slightly. “Ah…” The flygon’s eyes began darting across the room. “Why do you ask?”

Scorbunny’s eyes narrowed. “If there is a chance that some other pokemon are missing, it’s the guild’s job to know.” 

“Uh, for the record-” Rowlet hopped closer, whispering to Ajax. “Whatever you have to say will remain confidential with the guild.”

Ajax grimaced slightly, staring at the duo with apprehension. Up to this point, Ajax had found the young rescue team to be trustworthy, but now that the moment of panic has passed, he’s starting to see more of their...mischievous qualities shine through. 

_In any way that is dangerous or suspicious?_ No. He’s just starting to see the duo a bit more for how they actually are.

Pecha the Scorbunny is definitely the leader of the team, but she can be impatient and brash.

Don the Rowlet seems to be wise beyond his years but is also mischievous and enjoys pestering others for his own enjoyment.

They’re both very much teenagers and both carry elated self-images but they seem to be genuinely honest and hard-working. 

Regardless of how he felt about the messengers, it was clear that Aurorus herself did need to know more about the nature of Ajax’s trip. His worries about how Locket may react to learning that he tipped off a dungeoneering guild to rescue her was easily outweighed by his desire to just make sure Locket was found alive.

After a moment of consideration, Ajax finally answered. “Me and Yuna were traveling on a boat with an escort: Locket, Grapploct. We were on board with the rest of her crew when we were drawn into the storm.”

“I assume that Grapploct and her crew are experienced sea-farers?” Scorbunny inquired.

The flygon nodded. “Yes. That’s why I was more concerned about Yuna at first. Locket’s crew have been shipwrecked many times.”

“Yeah, but-” Rowlet interjected. “I’ve heard some things about the storm that happened a couple of days ago-”

Everybody turned to Rowlet expectantly.

“It’s no secret that the legendary guardians have been warring with each other again.” Rowlet said, his voice uncharacteristically low and head turned to the grown. “If this storm was Tapu Fini’s doing, your friends could be in big trouble; regardless of experience.”

  
  


“Don’s right.” Scorbunny replied, turning to Ajax. “We should report this to the guild right away. But before that, what do you plan to do now? Seeing as you’re sorta stranded.”

“Actually, Spear City was my destination in the first place.” Ajax replied, clutching his satchel. “The truth is: I’m on a bit of a journey right now.”

“Oh?” Scorbunny titled her head and smirked.

“I’m currently trying to make my way to some ancient ruins located to the northwest of the Stone Continent.”

“Ruins?” Rowlet echoed, his eyes wide. “Yeah, I think I’ve heard about those-”

“Those are still quite the distance from here.” Scorbunny interrupted her partner, which Ajax was beginning to assume was a running theme with the duo. “And you’re not exactly good on supplies either.”

“I’m not.” Ajax replied honestly. “That’s why I foresee myself staying in Spear City for a bit longer before heading out.”

“I see.” Scorbunny replied, her gaze downcast in contemplation. “I’ll tell Aurorus about the missing ferry. If you ever need something, stop by the guild.” 

“Yeah, that should be it for us.” Rowlet chirped, taking a hop back to his partner. “Thanks for the chat. Me and Pecha are currently working on town jobs so let us know if something comes up!”

“Right, well- We should be going.” Scorbunny turned and made her way to the door, stopping to wave back to Ajax. “See ya.”


	6. The Magus Archives!

Several days have passed since Flygon showed up in town and Don still hasn’t been able to have a one-on-one conversation with him. 

Don has so many questions about the Sand Continent, Flygon’s mysterious mission, that weird gold thing he wears on his scarf, the shady sailors that escorted him across the sea and Don hasn’t been able to bug him about ANY of it!

He and Pecha have had to keep tending to their guild duties around town keeping Don from carrying out his crucial investigative work of bugging Flygon until his ears (antennas?) fall off!

This is the absolute pits.

“Don! Quit dozing off and get over here!”

Don snapped his head out of his ‘brooding’ to see Pecha waiting for him at the entrance of the local town library. 

“Come on, we have to help organize the shelves today.” Pecha grumbled, looking over her paper checklist again. 

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Don fluttered over. “This is the first time we’ve had to work at the library, right?”

“Yep.” Pecha nodded, folding her list and sliding it into her bag. “Which means-”

“We have to be on EXTRA good behavior to make a good impression, I know.” Don answered in what was almost a growl. 

Pecha, per usual, was the first to walk inside and Don followed suit. At the library’s counter was a meowth of the grey variety reading a book.

The meowth’s eyes widened when he saw Pecha and Don and he straightened his posture. “Ah! Team FlareFeather, I presume?”

“That’s us.” Pecha answered, handing her badge to Meowth.

Meowth checked the back of the badge and scribbled something on his desk. “Alright, you’re checked in! Hattrem!” Meowth turned and yelled into the hall of books. “Hattrem! The volunteer’s are here!”

_ Hattrem?  _ Don felt that he was just reminded of something. Something embarrassing. 

A muffled call came from the back of the library and Don began to hear the sound of footsteps.

“Hi, so if you’re ready to follow me-” Hattrem, a very  _ familiar  _ hattrem stopped in front of Team FlareFeather, her expression blank. “Oh. Team...FlareFeather? Right?”

  
  


_ CRAP.  _ Don froze.  _ Crap, crap, crap. It’s that Hattrem!? _

“Uh, yes that’s us.” Pecha replied, stepping forward with a confidence best described as ‘false’. “You’re...Rene, aren’t you?”

Hattrem forced a smile. “Yes, that’s me! I didn’t know that you were doing volunteer work.”

“Would-” Pecha began, her ears drooping. “Would you prefer another team?”

“...No.” Hattrem replied softly. “I-”

“Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot-” Pecha stepped forward extending a paw towards Hattrem. “But we’re willing to work. And while I can’t speak for my partner, I want to apologize about what happened with the mission.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry-” Don lurched forward, feeling a bit like he was in freefall right now. “I’m sorry about getting snappy with you about that reward. That was super uncalled for-”

“OK, can you just stop.” Hattrem interrupted, seeming agitated for almost a moment before putting up another strained smile. “Sorry.” She whispered. “Can we...just...not talk about it? Right now, we all have a job to do so let’s just get it over with.” With that, Hattrem just turned around. “Uh, just follow me.” 

The silence that followed as Don and Pecha followed Hattrem through the bookshelves was almost oppressive.

Hattrem stopped at the end of the rows and picked up a clipboard, beginning to flip through its contents. “OK...so we need to rearrange this row here in alphabetical order.”

Don turned to his head down the hall, noting the scale and size of the row in question.  _ Welp. This is going to take a while.  _ Don glanced over to see Pecha asking Hattrem questions in rapid fire, clearly trying to avoid any potential awkwardness and just get all of the talking out of the way.

_ It’s all alphabetical order labeled by genre.  _ Don internally griped.  _ It’s almost impossible to mess up.  _ Don bent over and examined the stack of books on the floor next to him.  _ Besides, I think I've already screwed up things with Hattrem as it is.  _

\---

“Here you are.”

The kecleon merchant lifted the pearl in front of her eye, slowly turning it in her hand. “Another beaut! And you say you have a whole bag full?”

Ajax nodded, placing the purse on the stand.

Kecleon snickered. “You got yourself a deal, Flygon.” With that she grabbed the pearl bag and placed a coin purse in exchange. 

“My thanks.” Ajax bowed respectfully before stepping away from the stand. 

Yuna, of course, was patiently waiting by his side. “Are we heading back to the inn?”

“Not quite.” Ajax replied gently. “We have one last stop to make.” The flygon then crouched down and used his tail to scoop Yuna up one of his wings and onto his back. “Hold on.”

Yuna grabbed the back of Ajax’s scarf as he began to ascend from the ground, just barely higher than the roofs of most of the town’s stalls and began to glide over the street. 

It didn’t take more than a minute for Ajax to stop in front of a larger building with a sign saying ‘library’.

“Oh!” Yuna squeaked as Ajax landed. “We’re going to the library?”

“Not quite.” Ajax said, bending one of wings over for Yuna to climb off. “There’s an orb shop attached to it.”

Sure enough, as Ajax began to circle around the side of the building, they found another section of the building jutting out. While the actual library was made out of simple brown wood, this one section of the building was painting dark purple and covered in colorful tarps. 

Even for an orb craftsmon, Ajax found the shop to be particularly eclectic, but approached anyways (though he did make a point of gesturing Yuna to stay closer to him).

In front of the shop was a signpost reading ‘Magus Orbs and Oddities’ with a smaller interchangeable sign beneath it reading: ‘Open’.

Ajax pulled the wooden door open and was greeted by a bell jingle. 

“Welcome!” 

The flygon turned his head over to the counter where he saw a purple ghost type pokemon appear into view. 

“Hello.” The mismagius greeted him again with a zig-zag smile. “How may I help you?”

“Yes-” Ajax stepped forward as Yuna began to look around the many shelves of orbs in the store. “I need a Signal Orb. Do you have any in stock?”

“Signal Orb.” Mismagius echoed, beginning slightly closer. “Those are a bit of a rarity as far as orbs go, but I think I might have you covered.” She smiled slightly as she pointed a ghosty tendril towards one of the shelves behind Ajax. “Some of those are probably a bit old and might need some polish to get the best reception though.”

“Alright-” Ajax murmured as he walked over to the shelf in question and ducked his head down in order to see them more clearly.

Signal Orbs are typically identified by the hatch-mark symbols in their center and range from either blue to yellow in color. Ajax did manage to find a box of orbs that matched that description but many were dull and covered in thin layers of dust.

_ Most orb makers tend to keep their wares pretty pristine.  _ Ajax remarked as he continued to search through the orbs.  _ Something tells that this shop doesn’t get as many visitors as the others. _

Putting his personal impressions of the shop aside, Ajax grabbed one of the orbs after asserting that none were in a particularly new state so being picky with his choice likely wouldn’t matter.

“Not to sound rude, but most of your orbs could likely use some polishing.” Ajax said, trying his best to sound sincere as he placed the orb on the counter.

“Yeah, I know.” Mismagius replied a bit guiltily. “It’s just business has actually been pretty rare for us recently.” She murmured as lifted the orb into the air and began to cast a purple glow on it. 

  
  


“To be fair, I don’t know a lot about orb crafting, so don’t take my critiques too seriously.” Ajax replied, clearly trying to deflect the sense of doubt he accidentally gave the shopkeeper.

Mismagius scoffed slightly in response and the purple glow around the orb began to fade, but its yellow coloring was now much brighter. “My family has run this shop for generations but orb making just isn’t what it used to be.” The ghost mused. “Can’t imagine myself doing much else though, other than upkeep the library too.” With that, she smirked. 

“Well, considering I haven’t been able to find a Signal Orb up to this point, I’d say your work is still very much valued, at least by me.” Ajax said as he took the orb into his bag and set a bag of coins on the counter. 

Mismagius just gave an indifferent hum as she opened the coin purse and began counting, splitting the pile of coins to give Ajax his fair change. “Well, thanks.” She paused for a moment as if in hesitation. “By the way-”

Ajax straightened his neck slightly, and just now noticing that Mismagius’s gaze was focused on his scarf. 

“That pendant you have. That’s an Alpha Wheel, right?”

Ajax blinked in surprise. “Y-yes it is? You’re familiar with the Partners of Life?”

Mismagius tilted her head in response to this. “No, I’ve just seen a lot of those symbols around before. Those symbols are actually pretty common in our region, but nobody knows where they come from.”

“Oh-” Ajax replied as he felt an idea form in his mind. The flygon reached into his bag and pulled out the old tome, opening it to the ‘Prism Globe’ page. “Say, would you happen to know anything about this?”

Mismagius’s eyes widened, becoming way more alert and intrigued than she had previously been throughout their conversation. “Oh, what’s this?”

“You also run the library as an archivist, don’t you?” Ajax asked more rhetorically than anything. “I’m currently trying to find this artifact. Would you happen to know anything about this?”

“Well, lets see-” Mismagius said as she began to read the page. “The Prism Globe.” She echoed absentmindedly. “I think I might have seen something about this before actually.”

“Really?” Ajax asked, placing an elbow on the counter. “What do you know?”

Mismagius hummed again in contemplation. “There’s some ancient ruins on the Stone Continent to the northwest. Human ruins.” She clarified, before beginning to turn and drift to a door in the back of the shop. “If you follow me, I might be able to point you to a book about it.”

“Of course.” Ajax nodded in agreement. “Yuna!” He raised his voice slightly.

Yuna quickly turned away from a box of pink orbs back to Ajax. “Coming!” 

\---

Don has officially transitioned to the nonsensical trilling and humming phase of his shelf-restocking. That poor Meowth receptionist is probably wondering why it sounds like a wild komala is rolling around in the back of the library but Don (per usual) couldn’t be bothered to care. Pecha had wandered off somewhere with Hattrem and is likely making an embarrassment of herself so Don, for once, was left to his own devices. He kept transferring the stock of books to shelves before he suddenly stopped with a book in his wing, spotting a familiar symbol on its back cover. 

Almost subconsciously, Don slowly turned the book over, his sight fixed on the circular golden sigil engraved on the back cover. The book itself was clearly old based on the many small tears and creases in its faux-leather and the sigil itself was speckled with some blank spots in it’s golden lines.  _ This looks like the symbol Ajax wears. _ Don concluded, remembering just what about this symbol caught his eye in the first place.

Next, the rowlet turned the book over to its front cover and Don cringed when he saw what was waiting for him.  _ Ugh, footprint runes! Here I thought that this was going to be easy. _ The owl groaned, beginning to grumpily trace the runes with the tip of his wing to try and decipher them.  _ R...K… _

“Rene! Rene?”

Don jumped as heard the unfamiliar voice, shoving the book into the shelf without much care. 

“Rene! I need your help locating a book!” 

Don adopted his most innocent smile before he snapped his head around to see a mismagius he’s seen around the library before in passing, with Flygon and Mimikyu of all pokemon following her.

“Oh!” Mismagius gasped upon seeing Don. “Apologies, I forgot we had volunteers from the guild in the library today.” 

“It’s Rowlet from Team FlareFeather!” Mimikyu squeaked happily to Flygon.

“Uh, yeah. Me and my partner are restocking the shelves today-” Don explained hastily. “If you’re looking for Hattrem, I think she's further back-” The rowlet pointed a wing down the hall.

“Actually that won’t be necessary-” Mismagius drifted over to the shelf Don just placed the last book. “Excuse me.” 

Don stumbled back as Mismagius wrapped a ghostly tendril around the weird book with the footprint runes and handed it to Flygon. 

_ You’ve got to be kidding me-  _

Flygon turned the book over in his hands and gasped softly as he read the front cover. 

“What do you think?” Mismagius inquired as Don craned his neck over in order to get a better look.

“Yes. This should help.” Flygon murmured, his eyes still wide in awe. “J-just how long have you had this book?”

“Well it’s been here long before I took charge of the archives, I can tell you that much. Why do you ask?” Mismagius asked curiously. 

“It’s just- the title itself references information that is typically only known by...the Partners of Life.” Flygon revealed with hesitation in his voice.

_ The Partners of Life?  _ Don pondered.  _ Now that sounds juicy.  _

“I had no idea.” Mismagius replied, shaking her head. “Well either way, that book talks about the ancient human ruins connected to that Prism Globe you’re searching for-”

“What’s the Prism Globe?” Don squawked, suddenly leaping towards Flygon, being unable to restrain his anticipation any longer. 

Flygon, Mismagius and Mimikyu all just stared at him for a moment in stunned silence.

“Uh- I mean-” Don froze, realizing just how weird he was for jutting into the conversation like that. “I’m just curious. Is the Prism Globe like some sort of treasure? Is it valuable? Is it maybe connected to some legendary pokemon or something-”

Flygon’s face shifted from surprise to a hardened glare as he gripped the book to his chest. “And why would you want to know?” Flygon retorted with accusation in his tone, a far cry from the usual patience Don had come to associate with the dragon. 

“I-I’m just curious is all!” Don replied, hopping back. “I mean- I’m apprenticing to be an explorer so I just thought-”

The glare on Flygon’s face softened with guilt as he stepped back as well. “Ah- I- I’m sorry, Rowlet. I didn’t mean to snap like that.” Flygon apologized before slumping with a sigh. “It’s just- This is the reason I came to the Stone Continent in the first place. And from what I know about this object, it can be very dangerous in the wrong hands…”

“Oh.” Don replied, his excitement quickly deflating. 

Flygon looked around at Mismagius and Don with worry in his gaze. “I need to borrow this book but I don’t want word about this to start going wild. Can I count on you to keep this a secret for now?”

_ Me? No.  _ Don answered internally; knowing full-well he’s never been good at keeping any information to himself for any reason. “Yes.” Is what he said instead, with notable apprehension. 

“Sure.” Mismagius nodded. “It’s clear you know way more about this subject than I do, so I’ll defer to your judgement.”

Flygon stared at Don for a couple moments, his expression hard to determine before he finally lowered his head in a solemn bow. 

“You have my thanks.” Flygon replied, placing the book in his satchel and turning back to Mimikyu. “Come along, Yuna. Let’s return to the inn.”

“OK, Gongon.” The child replied as she followed her guardian down the hall of books.

Don watched as the duo left the library, trying hard to ignore the many questions that were firing off in his mind. 

  
  
  



	7. Prism Globe

At the other side of the library, Pecha was quietly reorganizing the shelves, acutely aware of Hattrem standing several feet away from her, examining the shelves and periodically scribbling something on her checklist.

“I thought that Team FlareFeather only did field work.” Hattrem said in a monotone voice.

Pecha whipped her head around towards Hattrem.

“When did you start doing town jobs?” Hattrem asked, not looking up from her checklist.

“Guildmaster Aurorus asked us to work around town.” Pecha replied, placing another book on the shelf. “Me and Don have performed well in dungeon jobs so Aurorus suggested we start working to improve in other areas.”

“Hm.”

Another moment of silence followed as Pecha moved a couple of more books to the shelves. 

“My aunt was an apprentice at Aurorus’s guild a couple of years back.”

“Oh?” Pecha turned her head again, one of her ears twitching curiously.

“Melody Mismagius.” Hattrem clarified. “She’s technically in charge of the library and manages the orb shop out back.”

Pecha stopped as she recalled something.  _ Hattrem did mention that her aunt was an orb craftsmon before. The “lucky” orb she offered us must have been made by Mismagius. _

“I’m also learning how to make orbs.” Hattrem added, stuttering slightly. “I’m not nearly as good as my aunt is though. But it’s a family tradition.”

“Oh that’s interesting.” Pecha replied, still restocking the shelves. “But...why would your aunt apprentice at the guild if she was about to take over the family business?”

“She originally went into the guild with a partner.” Hattrem began, now turning to face Pecha. “But they ended up having a falling out and I think Melody felt a bit bitter...so she sorta abandoned adventuring all together.” She said with a melancholy smile.

“That sucks.” Pecha said bluntly, turning back to Hattrem. “Don can be a bit of a pest but we’d never turn on eachother.” She explained honestly. “But I’ve heard of those things happening before.”

Hattrem snickered in response. “By the way, want to know who my aunt’s partner was?” She asked, a mischievous grin growing over her face. “Lydia Ledian.”

“Wait-” Pecha’s face lurched. “You mean Team Fortune Ledian!? Are you serious?”

“I’m serious.” Hattrem answered smugly as she leaned against the bookshelf. “Isn’t that the funniest thing?”

At this point, Pecha finally lost her composure and broke into laughter. “That’s hilarious! Oh man, I’ve always hated that girl. Glad to know I’m not the only one!”

“Well I’ve heard that you and your team had always had clashes with Team Fortune so I thought you might find that amusing.” Hattrem scoffed as she placed a book on the shelf she was leaning against. 

Pecha chuckled a bit more and placed another book on the shelf. “Hey- Again, I’m really sorry about what happened with your job. I’m the first to admit that me and Don can be super tactless.”

Hattrem paused and turned to Pecha expectantly.

“I just want to let you know that.” Pecha explained. “And even though Don isn’t here right now, he’s super sorry about it too, but you don’t have to forgive us or anything.”

Hattrem paused again, but she had a hint of a smile on her face.

“Pecha! Pecha!” 

Pecha turned on her heels to see Don barreling towards her. 

“Big News on the Flygon case! Like, holy moly! Stop the presses!” Don rambled, flapping his wings frantically.

“What is it?” Pecha asked, crossing her paws.

The rowlet drew in a deep breath as if to build up the tension before he started rambling again. Just as he was about to open his beak, Don suddenly slapped his wings over his face to silence himself.

“Um-” Hattrem interrupted in confusion while Pecha just rolled her eyes.

“Actually- I can’t talk about it...yet!” He added ‘yet’ with more hope in his voice than anything else. “Just know that stuff is happening, OK?”

“OK.” Pecha deadpanned. 

“Saved it.” Don whispered to himself before noticing Hattrem. “Oh, uh- Sorry for all the noise.”

“He really can’t help himself.” Pecha said back to Hattrem.

“Did you finish restocking all the books over there?” Hattrem asked Don. 

“Yep!” Don nodded. “And don’t worry, Pecha. This isn’t like that time I forgot to finish cleaning the guild mess hall.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Pecha said slyly as she moved one more book to the shelf. “We should be finished here too.”

“Thanks for coming to help.” Hattrem stepped forward, giving a shy smile.

“It was my pleasure.” Pecha said with confidence, extending a paw towards Hattrem.

Hattrem accepted the invitation with returning the handshake, and gave the duo one last smile before disappearing behind another wall of bookshelves. 

\---

It was now evening at the Aurorus Guild and Pecha and Don had retired to their crew room. The room was almost perpetually littered with journals, maps and other loose papers as a result of both of its inhabitants being scatterbrained teenagers. 

Pecha was currently making a half-hearted attempt to clean up some of the clutter while Don appeared to be engrossed in his “Stone Continent Explorer’s Guide” of all things, a book that is given to every apprentice at the guild upon joining. 

...And that Don hasn’t shown much interest in for a long time. This paired with Don’s more nonsensical than usual rambling from earlier today had Pecha convinced that something was up; and that it wouldn’t take much to make the rowlet crack.

“So what made you crack open the old guidebook again?” Pecha asked casually, approaching her roommate from behind. 

“Oh! Uh-” Don spun his head around, clearly being taken off-guard. “Uh- You remember those ruins located to the northwest?” Don grabbed the book in his hands and showed Pecha it’s copy of the Stone Continent map, his wingtips pointing towards the left-top most corner image.

Pecha’s eyes stopped at the location marked with several grey-dome shapes. 

“I’ve been thinking about how that place has been known about for years, but nobody has been able to get inside.” Don explained, his brow furrowed with frustration. “If somebody were to ever find a way inside that place, they’d probably become the most celebrated explorers on the continent.”

“But you said it yourself-” Pecha replied, honestly just as intrigued by this topic as Don. “Nobody has ever made it inside before. They say that it’s walls are impenetrable. Not to mention that it’s in such a remote location.”

“There’s got to be something missing.” Don muttered, glaring at the map again. “Nobody would make some freaky stronghold without there being any way to get inside.” 

“I wouldn’t say that.” Pecha replied. “For all we know it could be some ancient burial sight. It would be incredibly invasive-”

“Not according to…” Don mumbled under his breath, the last part just quiet enough for Pecha to miss. 

“Not according to what?” Pecha asked, crossing her arms disapprovingly. 

“Hhhhh-” Don turned his head away while cringing.

“Don.” Pecha prodded further. “C’mon, you can tell me.”

“But I made a promiseeeeee-” He whined, shutting his eyes close as if that would make Pecha stop staring at him.

“To who?” Pecha edged closer. 

Don stretched his head back, his beak clamped in a way that almost looked pained. 

“C’mon Don.” Pecha whispered threateningly. “Crack like the egg you are.”

“It was Flygon!” Don finally blurted out. 

“Flygon?” Pecha echoed, beginning to pace around the room. “Wait, does this have something to do with his mission?”   
  


“Listen, it’s juicy no doubt, but I still don't want to go behind Flygon’s back…” Don explained, brushing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Don, I’m going to be frank-” Pecha began with an unamused expression on her face. “But there’s literally no way you’ll be able to keep your trap shut on anything. So tell me so I can get you to shut up before you let it spill to the whole town.”

“Well that’s manipulative, now isn’t it?” Don exclaimed, acting offended. 

“I’m right though, aren’t I?”

“Yes.” He conceded. 

“So what did you find out?” Pecha asked, sitting on her bed.

Don still seemed a bit conflicted but he eventually answered her question. “Turns out that Flygon is looking for a treasure called the ‘Prism Globe’.”

“What’s that?” Pecha continued. 

“Honestly- No idea.” Don replied with a shrug. “But apparently he thinks that it’s located in those ruins we were talking about.”

“Oh right-” Pecha mused aloud as if she just placed another piece in a puzzle in her mind. “Flygon actually mentioned the ruins when we talked to him the other day.”

“This Prism Globe thing has to be super valuable ‘cause he wanted it to be kept a secret.” Don explained before giving Pecha a pointed glare. “You know, until you dragged out of me.”

Pecha paused for a moment, not to really consider what Don just said, but more on the mysterious ‘Prism Globe’ itself. Why does Flygon want it? Why does he want it to be kept a secret? How does he know it’s in those ruins if nobody has ever been able to get inside those ruins before? How does Flygon have all this information in the first place?

There were way too many unanswered questions for Pecha's liking. If this is going to be the big discovery Pecha thinks it is, a discovery that could place her in the company of the world’s greatest explorers and adventurers, she had to know more. This type of opportunity is the exact reason she became a guild apprentice in the first place. 

...But at the same time she didn’t exactly like the idea of betraying Flygon. For all she knew, finding this treasure could be even more important to Flygon than her; it would be incredibly selfish and rash of Pecha to do something like that. And yet...the idea was still tempting. 

“I know you’d really like to find that treasure-”

Pecha snapped out of her imagination when she heard the sound of Don’s voice.

“And don’t get me wrong, I’d love to, too!” The rowlet explained, his head sinking into his non-visible neck. “But I don’t like the idea of going behind another pokemon’s back in order to do so.” He mumbled quietly.

“Yeah, same.” Pecha replied back, balancing her head on her paw. “I’m sorry for pestering you about it.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Don shook his head. “I do the same thing to you all the time.”

“Well, there’s no point in still talking about this.” Pecha said, hopping from her bed and walking towards the lantern sat on the table between their two beds. “Ready for nights out?”

“Yeah sure.” Don answered, pulling a blanket over his round body. “Goodnight, Pecha.”

“Goodnight, Don.” And with a small click, the room was shrouded in darkness.

\---

It was morning at the Aurorus Guild, and it was also a day off for apprentices. 

Which was exactly why Pecha was so confused by all the commotion she heard come from outside halls as she awoke from her slumber. 

Groggily looking around the room, she saw that Don was still asleep in his bed, although the muffled voices from outside were still very much present.

“Don, you hear that?” She grumbled as she climbed off of her bed. 

“Buh…?” Don rolled over in his bed, slowly opening his eyes. 

“What’s everybody doing up so early?” Pecha asked, stepping closer to the door. 

While Don slowly crawled out of his bed, Pecha decided to open the door and step outside, where she saw a small group of guild apprentices deeply engaged in conversation. 

“Oh!” A clefairy was the first one to see Pecha, and gasped upon seeing her. (Felicity, Clefairy. On Team SuperNova with Growlithe.) “Sorry, Pecha! Didn’t mean to wake you.” She apologized quickly.

  
  


“Its...whatever.” Pecha replied, stepping out further in the hall. “What’s with all the commotion anyways?”

“People are saying there has been some sort of break-in in town.” Mareanie answered. (Pollux, Mareanie. On Team Punk with Zigzagoon.) “Everybody’s currently up trying to figure out what’s going on.” He explained.

Growlithe was the next to elaborate on that. (Andy, Growlithe. On Team SuperNova with Clefairy.) “I think Gumshoos is currently talking with the Guildmaster, so uh...be prepared for that.” She muttered in a dreading manner.

It’s no secret that the Guildmaster had personal problems with Officer Gumshoos and Spear City’s local sheriffs; but as a dungeon specialist, she was expected to keep a professional relationship with Gumshoos’ division, even though it is clear she didn’t like the usual arrangement. 

“OK, OK, I’m up!” Don exclaimed as he entered the hallway, stretching his wings dramatically. “What’s happening, why are we all up?”

“Well we’re about to go to the entry hall, so we’ll just catch you up on the way.” Mareanie replied as everybody turned to go down the hall. 

As they walked, everybody essentially repeated what was told to Pecha to Don.

“Please, please, please don’t say this means we’re going to have to lose our day off.” Don pleaded under his breath, still following the other apprentices down the hall.

“Can you think about something else other than your day off for one second! This could be an actual crisis!” Growlithe scolded Don as unlike Pecha, she’s still yet to realize that most of Don’s smart remarks are said in jest and that scolding won’t get him to stop.

“Ruh-roh. There’s Officer Gumshoos.” Zigzagoon (Orlando, Zigzagoon. On Team Punk with Mareanie.) mumbled as the group apprentices arrived at the entry hall, where Guildmaster Aurorus was busy listening to what looked like a report from Gumshoos.

Pretty much every other member of the guild was at the main hall of the guild, all of them making a point to keep a fair distance away from where Officer Gumshoos and Guildmaster Aurorus were currently standing.

“-And is that the gist of the report?” Aurorus asked, somehow standing taller and more stern than usual. 

“Yes.” The officer nodded “That’s why I would like to unlist the help of your apprentices in-” 

“Unless there’s a mystery dungeon involved, there’s nothing we can do to help.” Aurorus said quickly, cutting him off.

“And if it turns out that the culprit has escaped to a mystery dungeon?” Gumshoos countered in a gruff retort.

“Then the search will fall into my jurisdiction where I will take action accordingly.” Aurorus replied neutrally. “That said, until there is probable cause, only your division will participate in the search.”

“This suspect could be dangerous!” The officer snapped, his jaw clenched. 

“Again, the guild can’t participate in this case until we have all the necessary facts.” The Guildmaster replied calmly. “Until then, I wish you the best of luck on your case.” Aurorus curled her tail over Gumshoos, pointing the tip towards the entry gate, clearly gesturing for him to leave.

The officer simply huffed before he turned and marched out of the guild, giving several other guild members seething glares as he headed out.

A brief moment of silence followed once Gumshoos was out of sight and was ended by Porygon-Z flying over to Aurorus’s side.

“What a nuisance!” They griped, trying to reassure the Guildmaster in their own cynical way.

Aurorus lowered her head and sighed before catching sight of all the guild members who had gathered in the entry hall. 

“Ah, sorry about that everyone.” She said, faking a smile. “And here this is supposed to be your day off.” 

Several members, most of them being older ones and members of official staff, broke into stilted laughter. 

The silence that followed that was somehow more awkward than the silence before. 

Moments like these, where Aurorus was out of her element, were exceedingly rare, but they happened. To Pecha, they always act as...humbling reminders that behind all the authority and prestige, Aurorus was just like anybody else: She knows what it’s like to fail and will continue to do so. That doesn’t make her any less of a leader or someone to be admired, but...these rare moments are always a bit awkward for everyone involved. Especially Aurorus. 

“I suppose I should let you all be aware of what’s happening.” Aurorus began, turning to face the guild crew, who were standing in their usual spots when they did their morning address. “Officer Gumshoos has reported a fire at the beach camp. There is evidence to support that this was done with malicious intent.”

“That’s horrible!” Zigzagoon exclaimed. 

“Was anyone hurt?” Mareanie asked with concern. 

“Are there any suspects?” Growlithe questioned as she took an attack stance. 

Porygon-Z suddenly made an inorganic loud beep sound. “Quiet!”

“The attack happened overnight.” Aurorus explained. “Thankfully, nobody was hurt but we- Officer Gumshoos-” She pointedly corrected herself. “Doesn’t have enough leads yet or a proper suspect.” 

Trumbeak, an official staff member of the guild in charge of aviation operations and various other jobs stepped forward. “Per usual, we won’t be partaking in the investigation until it looks like a mystery dungeon is involved. Officer Gumshoos and his division will keep us updated on developments in the case.”

“Yeah, but should we really trust what he has to say?” Clefairy whispered in an aside to the other apprentices and Pecha couldn’t help but agree. 

There’s been times where Gumshoos has disclosed and hidden certain pieces of information in a case that depended more on his personal feelings than anything else. A lot of this is due to Spear City’s local law enforcement being much more entangled in Spear City’s management and permanent residents as opposed to the guild and the various adventurers that pass through the town regularly. 

This is all to say the guild hates the Spear City officers and the Spear City officers hate the guild. 

“Until then. Yes, our apprentices still have the day off.” Aurorus said with humor in her tone, where she was answered to with cheers (Don and Zigzagoon were the loudest). “You all may be dismissed.”

The guild crew dispersed as Aurorus began to head in the direction of her office with a bitter expression.

Don and Pecha were just about to pair off and go on their own when they heard Zigzagoon shout at them.

“Hey, Team FlareFeather! Want to join us over at the dojo for the day?” Zigzagoon with an excited smile.

Typically on their off days, Pecha and Don were left to their own devices, as they had a pretty well known reputation for being ‘odd’ or ‘marched to the beat of their own drums’ as some nicer pokemon would put it, so being invited to a larger social function was rare. 

Which perhaps is why Pecha was attracted to the novelty of this invitation. Pecha figured that if she and Don were going to do anything on their own time today it would maybe be returning to the Magus Library and trying to find out more about the Prism Globe; but since they both agreed to take that off the table last night, this appeared to be a very suitable alternative.

“What do you think, Don?” Pecha turned to her partner.

“Eh-” Don gave a non-committal shrug. “Why not?” 


	8. Magical Constructs

Ajax and Yuna have arrived back at their room at the Indeedee Inn and Ajax was busy trying to clear off the small table in their room before he set the Signal Orb down. 

All things considered their room was starting to become a bit cramped and Ajax was considering renting out a tent, until he heard about the break in that happened overnight in Spear City’s main campground. Even as set the Signal Orb on the desk he couldn’t help but glance towards the small window in their room, wary of being potentially watched. 

Logically, Ajax knew he had little reason to worry for his safety, not only to not having any real enemies but also due to his own strength; but something about the whole situation sent chills down his back. 

If somebody else was after the Prism Globe, that attack on the Spear City camp would look a lot less like a strange coincidence.

_...All the more reason to contact Naran again as quickly as possible.  _ Ajax rationalized.

Ajax closed his eyes and took a deep breath before placing the tip of his talon on the orb. In his mind, Ajax began to picture a web of golden strings splitting off from him and followed one in particular to its other end. A couple of moments passed with silence until Ajax was alerted by sounds coming from the signal orb.

Opening his eyes, he saw the face of a familiar hydreigon smiling at him through the orb.

“Ajax!” Naran shouted through the Signal Orb. “I’ve been waiting for your call for several days now! Have you made it to Spear City?” He asked with a familiar cheerful smile.

“Apologies, friend.” Ajax replied with a nervous smile. “I’m afraid me and Yuna were met with some unexpected obstacles upon our arrival.”

“Oh?” The hydreigon cocked his head. “And Yuna, she’s-”

“Hi-Hy!” Yuna chirped, having hopped on Ajax’s shoulder, waving a shadowy hand to Naran through the orb. “Hi Uncle Hydra!”

“Ah, there she is!” Naran said, delighted upon seeing Yuna. “Glad to see that little doll-face is safe!” Naran’s gaze turned towards Ajax. “I’ll tell you, I was very concerned when, well-” He winced slightly. “When the Tree of Life told me you two were weakened, especially considering the type of company you were traveling with.”

“Yes, about that-” Ajax began. “We got shipwrecked. I was able to find Yuna, thank the Tree, but as for Locket and her crew, I have no idea where they might be.”

“Oh no!” Naran shouted in response. “That doesn’t bode well.”

“Indeed, it does not.” Ajax responded flatly. “That and combined with some other unfortunate events that have transpired around us lately leads me to ask if there’s anything you need to tell me. I’m starting to suspect that this journey is not going to be as easy as you made it out to be.”

“Ajax.” Naran replied calmly with a hint of patronization in his tone. “The Tree of Life doesn’t prepare us for every single obstacle, it leads us down the path of the best possible outcome. Just because I sense that in the end, your journey will end in success, doesn’t mean that I know of all the obstacles that you’ll have to pass to get there.”

Ajax huffed. “Yes, I know, but-” The flygon sighed in defeat. “You believe that everything will turn out fine?”

“I do!” Naran nodded. 

“Then-” Ajax began hesitantly, his voice stuttering slightly. “Can you help push me in the right direction? I don’t know what my next course of action should be.”

“Hmmm…” Naran hummed for a moment in deliberation. “Yes. I think I can do that. But first, I need to know what exactly you’re afraid of.” The hydreigon looked at him with his brows furrowed in worry. “As the Voice of Life, I’m only able to tell you so much but as your friend, I’m deeply worried for you! It’s rare to see you look this forlorn, Ajax!”

To that, Ajax gave a weak smile. As much as the Voice of Life does to perplex Ajax more than actually help, Naran has always been the type of person to drop everything he’s doing in order to offer his support. Looking past all the confusing and conflicting prophecies, there’s nobody Ajax relies on more heavily than Naran, which has led to some unfortunate consequences due to Naran having  _ so _ many other responsibilities and duties. That leads to Ajax’s main concern.

“Honestly, Naran, I can’t fathom how I’m supposed to get to the Neo Ruins.” Ajax confessed. “From Spear City, I’ll have to travel nonstop to the other side of the continent through terrain I’m completely unfamiliar with and dangerous mystery dungeons! I don’t know how I’m supposed to do it alone-”

“Well there’s a pretty simple solution to that!” Naran chuckled. “Ajax, you’re in Spear City: home of the Spear City Adventurer's Guild! Simply get a team to help escort you!”

“I-” He paused, finding himself just as stunned at himself as Naran. “I’m...not sure why I haven’t thought of that.” 

“”So?” Naran responded, but in that subtle smug tone of his that signals Ajax that he knows more he’s letting on. “Anybody come to mind?”

Ajax’s antenna flicked irritably and answered curtly. “Well, One: I’ve never mentioned a ‘team’ up to this point, and Two-” 

“What about Team FlareFeather?” Yuna interrupted enthusiastically.

“Oh? Team FlareFeather?” The hydreigon cocked his head again with a knowing smile.

Ajax rolled his eyes and sighed. “A pair of apprentices at the guild I think. We keep running into them. They’re honestly rather odd…” The flygon’s voice trailed off as he once again locked eyes with Naran and remembered just who exactly he was talking too.  _ Though at this point I’m starting to consider I just naturally attract eccentric company.  _ “I think I’d much rather go to Guildmaster Aurorus first and see what she thinks.”

“An astute decision!” Naran cheers, though again Ajax detects the smallest hint of disappointment in his tone that he mentally notes for later. 

“Right.” Ajax sternly nods. “Anyways, now that I have a Signal Orb, expect me to contact you much more regularly. And-” The flygon sighs again, though this is one of relief. “Thanks Naran. I do feel better now about things.”

“Glad to hear it!” The hydreigon replied, his voice again absent of any of the hidden emotions that tended to conflict Ajax. “Please keep me updated on whatever you decide! May Hope be on your side, partner!”

Ajax gave Naran a glowing smile through the Signal Orb in return. “And you as well, partner.” 

With that, the image of Naran’s face blinked out of the orb, and Ajax turned back to Yuna.

“Well, Yuna, it's time for sleep. Tomorrow we’ll go back to Aurorus’s Guild.” Ajax explained calmly, ushering Yuna to her bed with his tail.

“-And talk to Team FlareFeather?” The mimikyu asked excitedly, her beady eyes glimmering.

The corners of Ajax’s smile tightened. “We’ll see. Goodnight, Yuna.” The flygon leaned down and pecked her false head. 

_ Scorbunny and Rowlet... _ Ajax thought as he crawled into his bed and deactivated the lantern plant sitting on his nightstand.  _ They definitely have the enthusiasm for an expedition like this, and I do know them already, but...are they really the right choice?  _

Ajax stared back towards the dark ceiling of his room.  _ No. There is always the right choice. If the Tree of Life says that “no matter what, I’ll succeed”, then I should have nothing to fear.  _ However, still staring into the darkness, Ajax was once again filled with doubt.  _ Everything always turns out alright in the end, right…? _

\---

The next morning Pecha found herself heading to the Magus Library alone. On their second off day, Pecha least expected to be ushered out by Don of all pokemon. Apparently, Don has decided he’s going to spend the day looking into the Neo Ruins in a rare instance of researching ferver. 

Feeling somewhat inspired by Don’s newfound motivation, Pecha has decided to do some digging on her own. She spent more time trying to warm up to Hattrem the other day then using a rare opportunity to look through the archives, a mistake she intends to correct now.

...Although she wouldn’t mind seeing Hattrem again. Especially if Hattrem has any obscure knowledge about the books in the library. Yes, that is the only reason Pecha would like to speak to the other teen.

Regardless, she found herself back at the library alone this time. Don was rightfully fixated on the Neo Ruins but Pecha was more curious about the Prism Globe herself and honestly - Flygon. Even putting aside his mysterious quest for the Prism Globe, there was still something about Flygon that caught Pecha’s attention. She’s seen his face before, she’s  _ sure _ of it, but she just can’t remember where. Unfortunately the library was very unlikely to help in that regard but she could at least try to find out more about his quest. 

Pecha was greeted by the meowth receptionist as she entered the library.

“Oh, Scorbunny!” He greeted her courteously, but titled his head a bit in confusion. “What brings you here? Aren't the apprentices off for the day?”

“We are.” Pecha answered, moving closer to the reception counter. “I’m here to do a bit of research for myself today.”

“Ah, I see.” Meowth replied with a pleased smile. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Yeah, actually.” Pecha mused as she scanned the rows of bookcases. “I need to look up treasures and artifacts. Can you point me in the right direction?”

Meowth nodded and pointed to a row on the right end of the hall.

The scorbunny nodded in appreciation. “Thanks.” She quickly turned and paced towards the row in question. Trailing past the shelves, she saw many mystery dungeon related encyclopedias.  _ The Prism Globe however is probably very obscure _ . Pecha thought to herself as she trailed her paws on the bindings of some of the tomes.  _ I don’t expect an official Expedition Society and Adventurer’s Federation encyclopedia to mention it.  _ Pecha was already formulating a theory on what she should be looking for. The scorbunny stopped her paw on the binding of a book labeled:  _ Stone Continent Anthology of Folkstories.  _

The skeptic in Pecha chastised her for even considering this book,  _ but-  _ She shook her head and grabbed the book anyways. Growing up in the reclusive mountainous valleys of the Stone Continent, she’s learned to not so quickly discount folk tales as pure fiction. With the tome at her side, Pecha made her way to one of the tables set up in the library and began reading. 

Pecha was honestly quite surprised with how she was already familiar with some of the stories mentioned in the book’s table of contents just from casual conversations with her dads when they went hiking on the trails around Lechi Town. 

Actually, passing through the pages, Pecha was hit with a sudden feeling of homesickness. It had been several months now since she was last at home, and while she made a good habit of sending letters to her fathers every couple of days but…

Pecha had to shake off the sudden feeling of melancholy when she caught sight of a particular pattern as she was flipping through pages.

Not only did the symbol match the piece of jewelry Flygon wears but it reminded Pecha that she’s seen it even before she met Flygon.

The circular, golden symbol in the book was labeled as the “Alpha Wheel”. The specific picture the book provides depicted it being engraved in a small field of grass, something Pecha has spotted before from around the various highlands around Lechi Town. 

Pecha’s gaze traveled to the passage below the picture. 

_ “The Alpha Wheel seems to be most closely tied to the highest peak in the Stone Continent, Mt. Night Top. Folk stories from around the world claim the existence of a mountain that was the origin point of the world, and some groups cite it being the work of some legendary pokemon that did so.” _

Pecha frowned.  _ Interesting, but still not exactly helpful.  _

_ “The Alpha Wheel, as it appears engraved around the Eastern Highlands, represents power spots. Some stories claim that the spots mark the end point of roots from a great tree that acts as the center of all life hidden somewhere on earth, while other stories claim that symbols appear at random like Mystery Dungeons.” _

Pecha chuckled incredulously. “...all I need is some info about the Prism Globe…”

The Alpha Wheel, while interesting, doesn’t seem to be relevant to the Prism Globe. If she just had a better idea of what she was even supposed to be looking for… Pecha finally conceded and closed the anthology book. Don mentioned that the librarian, Mismagius, appeared to be familiar enough with the artifact; the problem was she gave the book most relevant to the subject to Flygon.  _ And I could be here for hours trying to find something.  _

The receptionist, Meowth, while definitely knowledgeable and likely has a record of every book in the library on hand probably doesn’t know every book that mentioned the Prism Globe. For that matter, it’s fortunate enough that Mismagius would know that too-  _ Wait.  _

Pecha got up from her seat, overcome by the need to pace through her formulating thoughts.  _ Mismagius isn’t just an archivist, she’s an artificer!  _ Pecha practically skipped from this realization.  _ As an orbmaker, she might have heard about the Prism Globe through her own work creating orbs! _

Pecha turned back to grab her book before running back to the entrance, dropping the book on the receptionist counter without much fanfare.

Meowth shouted something that Pecha didn’t register as she bolted out the door and made her way towards the small, colorful shop attached to the back of the library. 

Pecha barely stopped to open the shop's door and make her way inside, being greeted by the sound of a small bell as she entered. 

“Hey, Mismagius! Are you-” Pecha looked around the store and skidded to a stop when she realized there were no lights on inside and no one waiting at the counter.  _ Crap. I just broke in.  _ Pecha scolded herself.  _ Probably should’ve checked for an ‘open’ sign before waltzing inside.  _

Pecha took another cautious look around the store as she began to tiptoe out, before she heard the sound of voices from the direction of the counter. 

Without thinking, Pecha ducked and hid behind one of the shelves, silently praying that nobody would see her while telling herself she should have just gone for the door.

“I just want to know what’s made you change your mind!” Pecha recognized the voice as Hattrem’s but didn’t risk looking over to confirm it. “-And, frankly, I’m a bit concerned. You haven’t been out in mystery dungeons for a while. Are you sure you should be going out that far?”

“There’s no need to worry, Rene.” Pecha didn’t recognize this voice nearly as easily but presumed it was likely Mismagius. “You’ve felt it too, haven’t you? Something is changing.”

_ What the hell does that mean?  _ Pecha quietly pondered. 

“I don’t...plan on getting involved or anything.” Mismagius(?) admitted in a small voice. “But...I have to understand it. That’s just how I am.”

“I know.” Hattrem replied with a hint of bitterness in her tone, taking a small moment to pause before continuing. “I have to ask though, does this have anything to do with that Prism Orb Flygon asked you about the other day?”

Pecha drew in a sharp breath as her body tensed. 

“Prism Globe.” Mismagius(?) corrected. “-And...sorta. I’m not going to try and get there first in order to steal it from him, so stop looking at me like that!”

Pecha tried to imagine Hattrem glaring at anyone. Despite how objectively terrible she and Don were to her before, Hattrem never got outwardly angry or even grumpy. Something told Pecha that Hattrem’s supposed ‘look’ was more similar to the incredulous looks Pecha would sometimes aim at her fathers in affectionate arguing.

“But yes; I am considering doing a bit more digging into the Prism Globe if that’s what you're asking.”

_ I wonder where she’s going, anyways? _

“Where are you planning on heading?” Hattrem asked next, causing a pleasant surprise for Pecha. “With the break-ins last night, I can’t say that even staying in the area is a good idea, you know.” Hattrem elaborated. 

“I want to try and find some Alpha Wheels in Misty Meadows.” Mismagius replied simply. “I eventually would like to go to Lechi Town and ask locals what they know, but for now that’s my plan.” Next, Pecha heard the shuffle of objects being moved on a shelf. “You, however, are to stay inside. If there really is some outlaw on the loose, I hope you would have enough street-smarts to avoid it.” 

_ I still wonder about that.  _ Pecha thought to herself.  _ Even with the guild, we’ve still gotten next to know information. Mismagius and Hattrem are locals so I wonder if they have any ideas who it could be? _

“I will.” Hattrem replied. “Do you have any idea who it might be?”

Pecha was again pleasantly surprised to hear Hattrem ask these questions for her. 

“You want my opinion?” Mismagius scoffed. “I know it’s not anyone in town. I can sense it.” 

Pecha rolled her eyes in response to Mismagius’s claim.  _ Sensing is different from knowing. And even if you did know something, you should at least report it to the guild. _

“Yes, but sensing is different from knowing, Aunt Melody.” Is what Hattrem remarked, and Pecha almost felt her heart skip a beat.

_ Hattrem is so witty.  _ Pecha quietly sighed to herself, still hiding behind the shelves.  _ It’s almost like she can read my- _ The scorbunny suddenly tensed as she was overcome with a terrible realization.  _ Wait.  _

“Anyways, if you’re done nagging, I should get going. Remember to keep the store locked.”

“Why don’t you take the backdoor?” Hattrem suggested in an overly-sweet tone. “That way, if there’s some outlaw waiting at the front door, you can avoid him!” She laughed jokingly.

Mismagius mumbled something in response to this and Pecha heard the distant sound of a door opening and closing, which was followed by an agonizing moment of tense silence.

“Shop’s closed today, you know, Bunny?” Hattrem spoke clearly in Pecha’s direction. “This is your invitation to come out by the way.”

Pecha awkwardly got up on her feet and turned towards the counter where Hattrem was waiting for her with a smug smile.

“I swear, I wasn’t trying to spy on you.” Pecha blurted out.

“Oh, I know.” Hattrem replied smugly. “Though I did help you get some answers, didn’t I?”

Pecha stepped forward and stared at Hattrem critically. “Isn’t there some type of courtesy thing to not using psychic-powers without asking?”

“Isn’t there some type of courtesy thing to not breaking into someone’s store?” Hattrem shot back playfully. 

Pecha paused. “Ok, fair.”

Despite the accusation, Hattrem began gesturing for Pecha to come up the counter. “Well come on! You’re here for a reason! Ask me whatever you like and I’ll try to the best of my abilities to help.”

“There’s no need to be so nice to me.” Pecha observed, following Hattrem’s invitation and stepping closer. “If you have to throw me out, feel free to do so.”

“It’s not like anyone’s going to try and steal from us anyways. Besides, you’re a welcome change of pace from just reading a book while making sure nobody comes into the shop.” Hattrem explained with a mischievous smile. 

“Well, if you’re fine with it…” Pecha trailed off as she noticed that her face was flushing slightly. “Anyways. It sounds like you’re pretty familiar with most things in the archives.” She said abruptly, trying to get back to the matter at hand. If Hattrem was offering free information, it would be remiss for Pecha to ignore it.

“Sorta.” Hattrem answered. “Honestly, I have no clue what most of the Adventure Federation prints are about; we just have those cause the Guild mandates that we keep those on hand for apprentices and general research. But the older, more obscure books I am familiar with since my family has been collecting those for generations.”

“So...does that mean you know anything about the Prism Globe?” Pecha asked with tentative hope, trying to casually lean over the counter.

A knowing smile grew on Hattrem’s face. “As a matter of fact, I do! Unfortunately for you, Aunt Melody handed the one book that mentions it to Mr. Flygon as you know.”

Pecha grimaced slightly. “Yeah, well is there still anything you can tell me?”

Hattrem leaned over the counter, still smiling. “Admittedly, I don’t think I have the concrete answers you’re looking for.” She giggled lightly with this confession. “But there's always been an old ghost story that my family has about it.”

Pecha raised an eyebrow to her and Hattrem took a breath before continuing.

“The legend goes the Prism Globe was a great treasure of a pokemon village long ago.” Hattrem slowly closed her eyes, and the empty shop somehow felt a bit more...mystical. “The orb was prized because it had the ability to manipulate pokemon types. The orb was shared amongst the villagers equally until one day…” Hattrem clicked her tongue and opened her eyes. “A group of humans arrived.”

Pecha took a step back and crossed her arms. “So this is a ‘human’ tale?”

“That doesn’t bother you. does it?” Hattrem asked.

“No.” Pecha shrugged.  _ Other than the fact I’ve heard plenty of outlandish ‘human tales’ in my day.  _ “Please continue.” 

Hattrem simply nodded before she picked up where she left off. “So, the humans eventually took the Prism Globe for themselves and used its power to create mighty domes of steel where they could continue using the Prism Globe for themselves. The pokemon village also began splintering off and infighting over who caused the Prism Globe to be lost-”

“Even though blame should’ve fell on the humans to begin with?” Pecha guessed. 

“According to the story, at least.” Hattrem replied cheekily. “Probably doesn’t help with your investigation though.”

Pecha huffed, turning her disappointed gaze to the floor. “No, not really.” 

“So, are you and Don going to go back to your plan of pestering Flygon until he cracks?” Hattrem inquired. 

“Sounds about right…” Pecha mumbled and rolled her eyes. “Unless Don has some sort of breakthrough on his end, that’s what we’re most likely going to do.”

“Well, here’s the best of luck to you-” Hattrem paused for a moment with a bashful smile before she continued. “Pecha.”

Pecha’s face flushed immediately. “Wait, does this mean we’re friends?”

“Why not?” Hattrem simply shrugged. “Nothing says ‘friendship’ like catching you breaking into my Aunt’s shop, afterall.”

Pecha nervously laughed, trying to shake off her nerves. “Well, if that’s what you say-” The scorbunny cleared her throat. “Rene.”

A small blush formed on Rene’s face in return and she gently laughed. “If you ever need some extra info on the library or-” She scoffed slightly, gesturing around the shop. “-Orbs. You know where to go.”

“Thanks.” Pecha said, her face still feeling uncomfortably hot. “I’ll be sure to stop by again.”

“-And even if you just want to hang out-” Rene added, stuttering slightly. “The shop can get a bit lonely sometimes so if ever catch yourself on a break and you just want to chat, the door is open.” The hattrem began walking with Pecha on her way out of the store.

“Sure thing!” Pecha shouted, parting the front door open with a paw. “-And, thanks again for helping.”

“Oh, it’s no problem.” Rene replied. “Hope you find what you’re looking for.”

The scorbunny beamed with a grin. “You too.”


	9. The Purple Yonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, how can I help you?” The Guildmaster began. “I know that you two have a lot of unforeseen circumstances befall you since arriving on the continent.” Her breath hitched slightly as she gave the duo a look of concern. “I’ll admit, I’ve actually been quite worried for you two. Any regular traveler would have given up and tried to return home as soon as possible with everything you two have endured so far.”

Ajax slowly stepped inside the entrance of the Spear City Guild; Yuna practically glued to his side like she has been since her rescue. 

The only pokemon to be seen inside the guild were a Mareanie and a Zigzagoon chatting in front of the job bulletin board. 

“Uh, excuse me-” Ajax started, approaching the duo. “Are you two working at the guild?”

The mareanie turned around and looked over Ajax curiously. “Yeah we are. You’re Flygon right?”

“Yeah! Everybody’s been talking about you!” Zigzagoon added excitedly. “Scorbunny and Rowlet especially!”

“-Though to be fair, they talk a lot anyways.” Mareanie said with an amused smirk, though there didn’t seem to be any malice behind it. “So? Is there anything you need?”

“We need to talk to Miss Aurorus!” Yuna announced cheerfully, taking Ajax somewhat by surprise.

“She should be in her office!” Mareanie said, using one of his head appendages to point to the hall wall going further into the guild. “It’s the first room on the right with the big fancy door, you can’t miss it.” 

“Thanks.” Ajax politely nodded.

Mareanie and Zigzagoon said “You’re welcome.” before turning back towards the board as Ajax and Yuna made their way into the hall and towards the ornate looking door on the right. 

Ajax gently knocked his knuckles against the door. “Guildmaster Aurorus? Can I speak with you?”

A muffled “Come on in.” replied and Ajax heard the sounds of large footsteps on the other side.

Ajax pushed the door open and Yuna quickly scurried past him inside. Waiting for them was Aurorus, who gasped slightly upon seeing Ajax and Yuna.

“Mr. Flygon-” Aurorus replied stepping past her desk. “This is quite the surprise! Oh-” Aurorus quickly dipped her head to Yuna’s height as she gave the child a warm smile. “Well, hello there Mimikyu. How are you doing?”

Yuna seemed very happy to have the Guildmaster be talking to her if her large glimmering eyes were any indication. “I-I’m doing fine, Ms. Guildmaster!” She replied bashfully but nonetheless excited.

Aurorus gently curled her tail on Yuna’s back using one of her front legs to gesture towards a nice couch that was placed in front of her desk. “Please, come and have a seat-” Aurorus looked back at Ajax with a smile. “You too, Flygon.”

Ajax nodded respectfully. “Thank you, Guildmaster.” With that, he and Yuna sat on the couch as Aurorus walked back towards her desk across from them.

“So, how can I help you?” The Guildmaster began. “I know that you two have a lot of unforeseen circumstances befall you since arriving on the continent.” Her breath hitched slightly as she gave the duo a look of concern. “I’ll admit, I’ve actually been quite worried for you two. Any regular traveler would have given up and tried to return home as soon as possible with everything you two have endured so far.”

“I can see why you would think that.” Ajax replied, trying to keep his gaze away from Yuna, who had done nothing but worry about during their trip so far. “However, I am actually very well seasoned as a traveler-” The flygon’s hand traveled to the leather satchel slung around his neck, clutching it slightly. “And my reasons for coming to the Stone Continent in the first place warrant me to hold my ground.”

Aurorus’s crystalline eyes widened and her neck straightened. “I’ve been wondering about that.” She said in what was almost a whisper. “Two of the apprentices here; Team FlareFeather have mentioned your ‘quest’ before in passing, and while Rowlet is prone to exaggeration, what Scorbunny has said has supported my theory that you’re in search of an ancient...treasure? Am I correct in that assumption?”

The flygon paused for a moment but nodded in confirmation. “Yes, actually...that’s why I’m here.” Ajax pulled the book Naran first showed him and placed it on the Guildmaster’s desk, opening it to the ‘Prism Globe’ page. 

Aurorus pulled the book closer and briefly smiled with a hint of child-like wonder. “Prism Globe? I think this might be the first I’ve heard of it.” She chuckled slightly. 

“The Prism Globe is an artifact said to be able to manipulate the elemental types.” Ajax explained, now opening his map of the Stone Continent, where he marked the location of the human ruins where the Prism Globe was supposed to be located. 

The smile on Aurorus’s face faded and she looked back at Ajax with a neutral expression. “That’s still quite the journey awaiting you; not to mention one containing many mystery dungeons. I believe that this is where...I come in?” She suggested, arching an eyebrow.

Ajax laughed slightly. “You’d be correct. I’ve traveled land, sky, sea and beyond alike-” He glanced nervously at Yuna, who was staring back at him with anticipation. “B-but I’m afraid of taking Yuna with me and going-”

“You’re planning on going without me!?” Yuna suddenly shrieked, suddenly looking at Ajax with anger. 

_ I knew this was coming.  _ “Yuna, I’m sorry, but-”

“Listen to your father, Mimikyu.” The Guildmaster interrupted with a calm voice.

Both Ajax and Yuna turned to her.

Aurorus tilted her head slightly towards Yuna, giving her a sympathetic smile. “I know you’re worried about Flygon, Mimikyu; but he’s also clearly worried about you. I’m willing to work with both of you to come up with a solution where everybody feels safe and satisfied.” She slowly closed her eyes and her smile became one of pride. “That’s what the Spear City Guild is here to do.”

“I- Yes, Guildmaster!” Yuna chirped.

Ajax simply blinked in confusion.  _ That’s all it took? I expected me and Yuna to be arguing about this for at least an hour.  _ “I-uh- Thank you, Guildmaster Aurorus.” He sputtered rather ungracefully in response. “So, uh- what do you suggest that we do?”

“Yuna can stay at the guild during the expedition. The guild has often housed pokemon awaiting the rest of their party to return from their explorations and Yuna will be no different. I promise, she’ll be safely watched and cared for by every member of the guild.”

Relief fell over Ajax like a large blanket when he heard this. “That’s...a huge relief, I’ll admit. But knowing the trek that awaits me, I’m hoping the guild will also provide me with an escort.”

“But of course.” Aurorus replied happily. “A journey this size would be a great learning opportunity for my apprentices; and I, of course, would be joining as well.”

Ajax smiled in response, his eyes lighting up slightly. “You would? Certainly you have other duties to attend to-”

“Nonsense!” Aurorus scoffed and shook her head. “I’ve been putting off our guild’s next expedition; helping you on your journey would be a great boon to all of us! As long as you’ll have us, we’ll be happy to help you.”

“Perfect.” Ajax replied with satisfaction, before his mind began to wander to who exactly would be joining him and the Guildmaster. “Wait, who do you have in mind to join us?”

The Guildmaster paused, humming to herself in deliberation. “A fair question. The apprentices I’m considering are Growlithe, Clefairy, Zizagoon, Mareanie-”

“Team FlareFeather?” Ajax interrupted, almost without thinking.

“Team FlareFeather?” Aurorus echoed, blinking in confusion. “Well-” She hummed again, turning her gaze to the desk. “Scorbunny and Rowlet are technically not going on field missions currently.”

“What?” Ajax replied, his jaw opening in a silent gasp. “Why not?”

“Scorbunny and Rowlet have had repeated instances in the past where they’ve disrespected clients…” Aurorus explained in a mumble. “-All things considered, however-” She looked back at Ajax with a stern gaze. “Those two are some of our finest apprentices. And they have been performing well with their jobs in town as of late…” 

“They’ve been nothing but nice to me.” Ajax said suddenly, though he internally questioned why he jumped so quickly to their defense. “-And they haven’t exactly been subtle with their interest in my exploration.”

Aurorus lightly laughed. “That they have not!” She looked over Ajax again, a small smile growing on her face. “Considering your recommendations, I would be more than happy to allow them along.”

“WAIT, WE GET TO COME!?”

Barreling through the doorway following that exclamation was none other than Rowlet who unfortunately had tumbled on the way inside and was now splayed out on the floor with a piece of paper trapped under his wing. 

“Ahhh-” Ajax said, not knowing what exactly to make of Rowlet’s sudden intrusion.

Aurorus, was far less bewildered by this occurrence and simply raised an eyebrow as she craned her neck over to get a better look at the apprentice. “Eavesdropping again, are we Rowlet?”

“S-sorry, Guildmaster!” Rowlet whimpered , getting back up on his feet and trying to back out of the room. “I-I just saw that you’re door was open and I wanted to ask you about-” 

Ajax suddenly caught sight of the Stone Continent map in Rowlet’s wing that appeared to have a marking drawn over it.

“Oh.” Rowlet said, looking back at the map.

“Hold on, Rowlet-” Aurorus moved past Ajax and Yuna, stopping by Rowlet. “What’s this?”

“Uh- So-” The owl pokemon stuttered, clutching the map against his chest. “I-I m-might have mapped a trail from Spear City t-to...the Neo Ruins Flygon’s trying to find.”

“Would you mind if I looked at it?” Aurorus asked gently.

Rowlet looked back at her in shock before handing it to her. Aurorus curled her tail around it before placing it on her desk; Ajax, Yuna, and Rowlet huddling around the map in anticipation.

Ajax’s eyes trailed across the paper, examining the route Rowlet had devised. 

“This is uh-” Rowlet mumbled, patting the top of his head bashfully. “The fastest route from Spear City to the ruins.”

The tip of Aurorus’s tail tapped against an area of the map located somewhere in the eastern mountain range of the Stone Continent and turned to Rowlet. “The trail goes through the Rift Channels?” She asked like it was a test question. 

“Yeah, well-” Rowlet pointed to the same place on the map. “I know the Rift Channels are a mystery dungeon, but cutting through there is still faster than trying to go around the mountains. Pecha and her dads went hiking there all the time-”

“So Scorbunny’s familiar with the area?” Ajax asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Rowlet nodded smugly. “Pecha grew up in the mountains, she knows them like the back of her hand!”

Aurorus hummed, still analyzing the map. “I have to say, Rowlet, I’m quite- Very-” She corrected herself and Ajax saw Rowlet puff up his chest confidently in response to this. The Guildmaster turned to the rowlet with an approving smile. “You’ve really outdone yourself. There’s clearly been a lot of research put into this.”

The last of Rowlet’s smug persona faded away as he began to stammer incoherently, his face as red as a Cheri Berry. 

Aurous lightly chuckled as took out her own copy of the continent map from a drawer in her desk and began carefully scrawling ink on it with a quill. “I suppose that decides it then.” She mused to herself. “It looks like we have an expedition to begin preparing for.”

Even Ajax found himself getting excited, his wings beginning to beat themselves just from pure elation. “Oh thank you, Guildmaster Aurorus!” He barked out with a bit more volume then originally intended.

“Of course, I will still have to check with the rest of the guild first, revise the route and make a solid decision on who will go with us, but you should expect us being ready to embark in a month at most.” Aurorus explained with a confident smile.

“That’s perfectly fine.” Ajax replied. “Me and Yuna should be returning the Inn-”

“You can also stay at the Guild if you want.” The Guildmaster interrupted, glancing back to the flygon. “We have plenty of spare rooms and you won’t be charged any.”

For what felt like the thousandth time today, Ajax found himself at a loss for words. “Y-You’re serious?” He sputtered in response.

“If you’re going to be organizing an expedition in association with the guild, it’s only right that we provide you with the necessary resources.” Aurorus explained. “Will you take up the offer?”

“Yes!” Ajax replied excitedly. “I mean- It’s an honor! Truly-”

Aurorus calmly nodded. “We’ll go prepare a room for you and Yuna. Take as much time as you need to gather your things from the Inn.”

“We will-” Ajax replied, hastily turning to gently Yuna out with him. “We’ll get going right away! Again, Thank you-”

“Gongon, you’re rambling.” Yuna grumbled as she was ushered outside. 

“Right, right-” He laughed nervously, looking back at the Mimikyu.  _ This changes everything. _

\---

“Hey, Don! I’m back!” Pecha announced with newfound enthusiasm as she returned to their dorm room. “Don?” The scorbunny asked aloud as she looked around the room to find, to her surprise, that the rowlet in question was nowhere to be found.

_ Well, this is unlike him.  _ Pecha frowned, stepping back into the hall and closing the door.  _ It’s one thing for him to kick me out so he can study, it’s ANOTHER for him to not even be here when I get back. _

Usually, Pecha would spend a bit more time trying to figure out where her partner has gone, but she already had something she needed to do anyway. Besides, when Don does show up, he’ll be loud enough so that there will be no way to miss it. With that, Pecha stepped back inside and made her way to the small desk on her side of the room. 

She opened the drawer and pulled out a clean sheet of paper and an envelope and dipped the quill on her desk into a small jar of ink. She took a moment to pause in order to collect her thoughts before she began writing.

_ Dear Dads, _

_ Sorry for taking a bit longer than usual to send my next letter. I hope that hasn’t caused you any reason to worry. Like I said in my last letter, me and Don have been given new duties by Guildmaster Aurorus around town.  _

_ Being honest, I was fairly worried about how the volunteer work would go, but we’ve actually gotten through most of the work without much trouble. Even the Guildmaster has given us a lot of praise for our performance. Don also has been stepping up his work lately; I’m sure he’d love to tell you about what we’ve been doing next time we stop by Lechi Town. _

_ That brings me to my next point. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I’m homesick. I don’t want you to make a big deal out of this or anything, but I would like to visit home soon. If you two are OK with it, I’ll try to ask the Guildmaster if I can home for a week or something.  _

_ There’s honestly a lot more I want to talk to you about. Frankly, more things have happened in the past month than almost the rest of my time at the guild so far and I’m dying to tell you the details. Unfortunately, paper budget is keeping me a bit restricted in that regard. I hope you two are both doing well and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. _

_ Sincerely, Pecha Scorbunny.  _

Pecha carefully pushed the paper aside and pulled out the envelope to label accordingly.

_ From: Scorbunny, Pecha _

_ Destination: Lechi Town, Stone Continent _

_ To: Raichu, Rye and Ninetails, Kris _

She picked up the letter and carefully folded it before slipping it into the envelop and sealing it. She got out of her seat and exited the dorm room again, making her way to the Main Hall.

In the Main Hall, she saw Trumbeak sorting through the Guild Mailbox, clearly getting ready to drop off the letters at the Propel Post Office (The Pelipper Post Office changed their name a couple of years back to be more inclusive to their other employees and members.)

Trumbeak glanced up as she heard Pecha approach. “Ah, Pecha!” She hummed in greeting. “I’ve been wondering when you were going to send your next letter.”

Pecha chuckled lightly as she handed Trumbeak the letter. “I’ve been so busy, this is the first time I’ve had to put it off.”

“That’s what I figured.” Trumbeak replied, placing the envelope in her satchel. “I’m going to be honest, I’ve never seen anybody else at the guild send letters as regularly as you and your folks.”

Pecha smirked at the word ‘ _ folks’ _ . It was hearing the rest of her fellow mountain folk speak like that that had her currently longing for home after spending so much time at the rather academic guild and port town. 

“I suppose that’s for the best, considering how much my-” She paused for a moment, still lightly chuckling to herself. “-folks have asked me to keep up my regular correspondence. I’m honestly expecting a word of anger from my dads about this next one.”

Trumbeak chuckled. “That’s just how much your folks worry about you. Besides, from what I know, Rye Raichu is not one to get upset over things like that.”

“True.” The scorbunny replied with a wistful smile, recalling her Dad’s generally sunny disposition. 

Trumbeak gave a low hum as she glanced through one of the windows. At this point, a scarlet sunset was usually the view outside, but instead it was replaced with a dark and cloudy overcast of an incoming storm. “I think we’re finally starting to see the effects of Tapu Fini’s recent campaign.

Pecha’s ears perked at the sound of the legendary pokemon’s name. “Has there been more news about that?”

“Tapu Fini is apparently trying to hunt something down along the coast.” Trumbeak explained as she glanced worriedly out the window. “-Some pokemon that’s disrupting the natural balance of the tides. Of course, whenever Fini does this, they end up whipping up these tropical cyclones.”

Pecha leaned over to get another look at the brewing storm outside. The clouds had a slight purple hue, a clear indication of Tapu Fini’s elemental power at work, though this was the first time Pecha got to see it up close. “...I know they end up doing this ever so often, but from what I've heard, this season has been particularly intense.” The scorbunny said in a hesitant murmur, almost like she was worried of Tapu Fini themself overhearing.

“That’s I’ve heard, too.” Trumbeak agreed, in a voice just as low and apprehensive as Pecha’s. 

With that, Pecha began to hear the sound of rain drops beginning to fall outside, her heart stopping at the sound.

Both she and Trumbeak’s eyes went wide and they exchanged fearful glances.

“I-it’s not like they can actually hear us-” Pecha stammered, laughing nervously.

Trumbeak gave a similarly stressed chuckle. “Of course. Just a strange coincidence.” 

Another awkward silence followed this before, Trumbeak began hurriedly turning in the direction of the inner halls. “I guess I should go and grab a raincoat before me and the letters get soaked.” 

“A prudent decision.” Pecha replied, realizing that she was shaking slightly out of fear. “Thanks, Trumbeak.”

“Just doing my job!” Trumbeak squawked, before quickly running back down the hall.

Pecha gave another hesitant glance towards the window before slowly making her way back down the hall. On her way back to her room, she spotted Don, appearing to be heading out of the Guildmaster’s office.

“Don!” Pecha began to move with a skip in her step as she hopped towards her partner, unfortunately giving the rowlet quite the fight if his wide eyes and open beak were any indication.

“HOOT! Pecha!” He shouted back, almost tripping backwards. “You scared the heck out of me!”

The scorbunny fell back on her heels and tried to relax her posture. “Oh, sorry, Don. I was going to tell you I decided to stop by the library today!”

“Wh- You did?” Don asked, cocking his head curiously. “Why?”

“I wanted to see if I could help you find out anything about the Prism Globe.” Pecha murmured quietly as she and the rowlet began to walk back to their room. 

“Oh!” The rowlet exclaimed, though obviously trying to maintain a low volume like Pecha. “Did...did you find anything?”

“No, not really.” Pecha shook her head, but even she didn’t feel all that disappointed. “I mean, I learned some interesting things about Alpha Wheels from the books I found, but Rene was able-”

“Rene?” Don stopped at the door to their room and tilted his head again, before his eyes lit up with a mischievous excitement. “Wait, do you mean Hattrem?”

“OH.” Pecha gasped, clasping her paws over her mouth, feeling her face begin to flush.

Don chuckled almost sinisterly as he opened the door, waiting for Pecha to go inside first. “Now since when were you and Hattrem on personal name basis?” He asked with a devious smirk.

“It’s- Uh- Ah-” Pecha stammered, going inside. “So, at one point, I realized that Mismagius, the Orb Shopkeep, might know about the Prism Globe being an artificer, so I went in while there were closed-”

“You broke in!?” Don hooted, somehow excited about this development as he closed the door behind him.

“NO. Well- Kinda-” Pecha rambled, clearly embarrassed but unable to stop talking. “That’s besides the point!” The scorbunny snapped quickly at Don before getting back to her info-dumping. “Anyways, Rene, Hattrem, was there and she was able to tell some of the folk stories about the Prism Globe. She says she’ll be able to tell us more if we stop by again and-” Pecha’s attention was drawn back to Don. “What’s so funny?”

Don snickered, his face morphed into an absurd smile. “Did you even find anything useful about the Prism Globe other than having a chat with your new witchy friend?”

Pecha froze, realizing now what exactly it was she was so excited to share with Don. “OK, Sue me! I’m excited about making a new friend! You caught me!” She announced defensively, clearly aware of the heat that lingered on her face. 

“Aw~ Pecha!” Don chirped, facetiously patting the scorbunny on the back. “I’m happy for you! You finally managed to find someone other than me that can put up with your rambling! Congratulations!”

Pecha slumped onto her bed, feeling her embarrassment and irritation fizzling out enough so she could give Don a shy smile. “...Thanks.”

“So what other tricks did you get into without me?” Don asked, flopping onto his bed unceremoniously. “-Because I’m telling you, what I saw today will blow it out of the water!” He said with bravado.

“I sent another letter to my dads.” She replied, her smile now being more wistful. 

Don sat up on his bed, and softly gasped. “Oh, really?” He tilted himself a bit closer. “This...This is the first letter you’ve sent later than usual, right?”

“Yes.” Pecha answered, trying to mask her guilt. “I’m glad I did it though. I’m going to be honest, I’ve been a bit...homesick.” 

“Oh.” 

The scorbunny shook her dismissively. “Don’t worry...I’m fine! But I have been thinking about home often lately.”

“Do you want to ask the Guildmaster for a week off to go home?” Don asked.

“Yeah. I think I’ll do that tomorrow.” Pecha mused, slumping further into her bed.

Don inhaled a quick breath, but stopped himself from speaking.

Pecha turned her head over to the rowlet and raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

To Pecha’s surprise, Don just replied with a small smile. “Actually. I’ll let it be a surprise.”

“Another secret?” 

“I don't think you’ll have to wait long.” Is all Don said before he rolled over in his next and seemed to fall asleep.

Pecha was tempted to ask him to clarify, but instead she just sighed with a smile.  _ This is just his way of having fun. I really couldn’t ask for a better friend than Don. _

With that, she found herself drifting off into slumber as well.


	10. Winds of Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An expedition. Don had heard many stories about the Spear City’s Guild expeditions around the Stone Continent before; as they were expected, being part of the Global Expedition Society. The last time the Spear City’s Guild went on an expedition was when Don and Pecha were still rookies and thus stayed behind. Since the months that passed, Team FlareFeather had quickly risen through the ranks, but were not known for being easy to work with. A couple of weeks ago, Don would have not felt confident in their chances in being picked for a potential expedition, but Aurorus now seems to be considering Don and Pecha as the top candidates.

An expedition. Don had heard many stories about the Spear City’s Guild expeditions around the Stone Continent before; as they were expected, being part of the Global Expedition Society. The last time the Spear City’s Guild went on an expedition was when Don and Pecha were still rookies and thus stayed behind. Since the months that passed, Team FlareFeather had quickly risen through the ranks, but were not known for being easy to work with. A couple of weeks ago, Don would have not felt confident in their chances in being picked for a potential expedition, but Aurorus now seems to be considering Don and Pecha as the top candidates.

Don was currently torn between a desire to loudly celebrate this victory or to once again second-guess himself. While it’s true he and Pecha have managed to do their assigned duties around town well, he hasn’t felt he’s...learned anything. 

He knew for a long time that he was impulsive, and tended to speak out without really considering how his words affected other people. He’s been trying for a long time to correct these behaviors but he always ends up falling back into old habits.

_ Even if I do get picked for the expedition, I might mess something up again.  _ Don thought to himself, rolling over in his bed.  _ I’ve been lucky so far, but there’s no way Aurorus is going to be as lenient as she has been on the expedition! _

The rowlet screwed his eyes shut as he continued wrestling with his thoughts.  _ I’ve never even been that far from the guild before! Sure, Pecha knows the mountains pretty well, but once we get past that we’ll have no idea what to expect!  _

_ What if my map gets us lost? _

_ What if somebody gets hurt? _

_ What if- _

“IT’S MORNING!” Trumbeak’s voice echoed throughout the guild halls. “MORNING ADDRESS IS IN 15 MINUTES!!!”

Don opened his eyes. He went to bed last night with confidence in him and Pecha’s chances for Flygon’s expedition but now after spending a whole night questioning that, all of his pep was now shadowed by a cloud of doubt.

Pecha sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes, still unaware that there’s even an expedition at all to be worrying about. “Mornin’, Don.” The scorbunny said groggily, her mountain accent cutting in for a brief moment. 

“Yeah, good morning.” Don grumbled before stretching his wings out. 

Both he and Pecha climbed out of their respective beds. Don looked at himself with the small mirror on his desk as he tried to pick out any stray and loose feathers. While Pecha began stocking her satchel with everyday items, Don pinned on his signature red bow tie, checking to make sure it was evenly angled. 

Pecha quickly tied her blue bandana around her neck before slinging the bag over shoulders and turning to Don with a sunny smile. “Ready to go, partner?”

“Yeah.” Don said, stepping forwards to open the door.

Quickly running past them as they entered the hallway was Tangela and Helioptile of Team VineLight. Team VineLight, as of now, were the newest recruits to the guild and were clearly still getting accustomed to field work and life at the guild in general.

Helioptile stumbled at the sight of Team FlareFeather and tripped to stop rather ungracefully. “Oh- Shoot- Hi, Scorbunny! Hi, Rowlet!” She yelped, clearly trying to mask the pain of her stubbed toes with the best effort she could muster. 

Tangela quickly went behind her and tried to pull her over with his vine-limbs. “C’mon, Helena! We’re going to be late for the address!” He said with something approaching panic as he desperately tried to run as he pulled Helioptile back on her feet.

“The address isn’t for another 10 minutes. You’ll be fine.” Pecha said, trying to be reassuring. 

Admittedly, Don and Pecha haven’t exactly been fair to Team VineLight in the past. Since Don and Pecha have assumed a more senior status among the guild apprentices, they have been assigned on missions before in order to help Team VineLight. However, Pecha’s impatience and Don’s own sense of pride has often led them to go through dungeons before ahead of the other team, granting them many scoldings in the process. 

Despite, Team VineLight have either been completely forgiving or ignorant of these misgressions, which once again, only helped to contribute to the feelings of guilt and doubt Don was currently being saddled with. 

Don just stood by quietly as Pecha leaned down and helped Helioptile regain her balance. 

“C-can you walk?” Pecha asked, putting as much effort into being considerate as possible. 

“I think so.” Helioptile made a pained smile and nodded in confirmation. “Thanks, Pecha!”

Pecha turned to Tangela with a critical glance. “Keep an eye on your partner.”

The grass-type flinched in response.

“I-” Pecha blinked, realizing that she came off much more harsh than she intended. “I just meant...don’t rush her. She’s your partner and she relies on you to support her. Even when you’re worried, your first concern is helping her and pulling through together.” Pecha’s glance quickly flitted to Don before returning to Tangela. “Both in and out of dungeons. Remember that.”    
  


“Y-yes, Ma'am!” Tangela blurted out before turning to run towards his partner.

“Ma’am?” Pecha repeated with a scoff as she watched the younger team hurry off. “How was I?” She asked, turning to Don. “Too harsh?”

“Uh, I don’t know.” Don replied noncommittally. 

The scorbunny sighed. “I’m trying to be better.”

“I know. You’re doing a good job.” Don said, genuinely trying to be supportive. “I don’t think I could put the best foot forward like you can.”

Pecha cocked her head, her eyes with shock. “Is that what you think?”

Don just shrugged again, not saying a word. 

Pecha continued to stare at him, still expecting him to say something, only to finally turn away when she realized that Don would not elaborate. 

Stepping into the Main Hall, Don and Pecha saw the other apprentices lining up for the morning address; Helioptile and Tangela standing in visibly awkward, stiff and alert postures. 

Don and Pecha chatted with Team Punk and Team SuperNova for a couple of minutes before falling back into position as Aurorus and Porygon-Z arrived at the hall.

“Good Morning, everyone.” Aurorus said, smiling confidently. “Thank you for arriving on time for the address.” She straightened her posture slightly, intaking a breath. “First, I would like to review some ongoing news: Officer Gumshoos is still yet to provide any evidence connecting his case to any Mystery Dungeons so we will continue to stay uninvolved.” Aurorus nodded towards Porygon-Z sternly.

Porygon-Z proceeded to float across the room and projected an image up on one of the walls. The image depicted a stormy scene from a tropical island. 

Don’s heart sank at the sight.  _ The Tapus don’t even realize they’re hurting my home! _

For a moment, it looked like Aurorus caught Don’s gaze before she continued her speech. “Meanwhile, Tapu Fini’s storms off the east coast are continuing to grow-” 

Aurorus made another slight nod to Porygon-Z who brought up a smaller image of the Adventuring Team Federation’s Logo on the projection.

“Currently, The Adventure Federation are sending their own teams out in order to negotiate with the Legendary Guardians and provide aid. We will likely start receiving missions telling us to do the same in the coming weeks.” The Guildmaster explained, and Porygon-Z closed the projection. “I also have one more announcement, we have begun planning our next guild expedition.”

Just like that, the room immediately bustled into excitement and cheers.

“Yes!” Pecha shouted triumphantly out loud in a rare moment of being able to control herself. “I’ve been waiting for this!”

“Just when things were getting a bit too routine around here.” Mareanie snarked, but his genuine smile betrayed any dismissiveness he was trying to express. 

“I don’t know if we’re ready for an expedition…” Helioptile mumbled shyly. “But I hope everybody gets to have a lot of fun with it!”

“Our destination will be the Neo Ruins located to the northwest!” Aurorus shouted excitedly; probably the most genuinely excited Don had ever seen the Guildmaster during a morning address. “I want our guild to be the first to find a way inside and see what treasures are in store!”

With that, Pecha’s excitement faded a little as she gave Don a confused look.

“To help us with that! Our Guild will be joined by another explorer-” The Guildmaster then turned towards the hallways with an expectant smile.

Stepping forward from the hallway was Flygon, wearing his signature orange scarf with the Alpha Wheel pin. 

Don heard Pecha gasp. “Flygon!?” She quickly snapped her head towards Don. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”

“Uh, yeah.” 

Flygon definitely heard Pecha and Don as he immediately looked towards them before trying to redirect his attention to the entire crowd. 

“My name is Flygon, Ajax.” He said to the crowd in a clear tone. “It’s an honor to be working with you.” He respectfully bowed his head towards the guild members before stepping back. 

Aurorus nodded back to him in agreement before picking up where she left off. “Flygon is from the Sand Continent and he’s currently searching for a treasure known as the Prism Globe. As we make preparations for the Expedition, the guild will be helping him research about the Neo Ruins and the Prism Globe as well as providing him and his daughter a place to stay during this time. I hope everybody treats our guests with the respect and kindness I’ve come to expect from all of you.” 

The guild members proceeded to nod in agreement. 

“Thank you. With that, you all are dismissed. Per usual, Porygon-Z will give you assignments. Keep up the good work!” Aurorus said with a bright smile, nodding to Porygon-Z and turning to return to her office. 

“So not only are we going on an expedition, but we’re actually going to help Flygon find the Prism Globe?” Pecha asked excitedly, half to Don, and half to herself. “This can’t get any better!” Pecha suddenly stretched out her arms and began waving them up and down excitedly. 

Don was tempted to remind her that haven’t been confirmed to join the expedition but even he couldn’t bring himself to do that; not with Pecha looking more excited than he had ever seen before. 

“Team FlareFeather!”

Don and Pecha both turned towards Porygon-Z.

“The Guildmaster told me to tell you several things-” Porygon-Z began. “One: That you two have been doing an impeccable job around town which she’s really impressed by-”

The cloud of doubt that has been weighing over Don lifted slightly and he began to smile. 

“Two: While the official expedition party won’t be confirmed for a couple of weeks, Aurorus wants you two to help with preparations. Specifically, she wants you two to help Flygon’s research and charting the course. It is to my understanding that Rowlet provided the Guildmaster with a draft of the map to the Neo Ruins yesterday and that Scorbunny is familiar with the Eastern Mountains and its surrounding areas, which she expects to be valuable during our preparations.”

“Yes!” Pecha chirped out. “I grew up on the Charcoal Trail! I know all about the Mountains!”

“I see.” Porygon-Z hummed, looking to even be impressed themself. “Aurorus actually would like to visit Lechi Town in the upcoming weeks and would like for you to join her.”

Don didn’t think Pecha could get any happier as her eyes lit up and her mouth stretched into an unbreakable grin. “I would l- I’d be happy to! My dads help explorers on the trail all the time, I-” She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders before she started info-dumping. “Tell her I’d be happy to. Thank you.”

Porygon-Z stiffly nodded. “As for today, you two are to help with secretary duties around the guild. Feel free to help me with the bulletin boards, Trumbeak with sorting letters or Bruxish with tracking supplies. There’s always something that needs to get done.” 

With that, Porygon-Z turned towards the Bulletin Boards and began to cross reference them with one of their holo-projections.

“So, what do-” Pecha stopped upon seeing Don’s face. “Hey, are you OK?”

“Huh?” Don answered back obliviously.

“You- You don’t seem happy.” Pecha said quietly. “Aren’t you happy about the expedition and getting to find the Prism Globe?”

_ I am. I really am.  _ “Yes, I am, I just-” The rowlet sighed in defeat. “I’m sorry. I really don’t know why I feel this way. I just don’t feel really confident right now.”

The scorbunny’s eyes traveled over his face with concern. “Are you worried about your home? Sino Town?”

Don’s eye widened, just now noticing how his heart ached slightly when Pecha mentioned it. Pecha averted her gaze, and Don was thankful for no longer being obliged to hold eye contact.

“The entire southeast is currently being swept with storms and quakes.” Pecha murmured thoughtfully. “Have you sent a letter to your family recently?”

“Oh, what? Like it’s not just going to get lost in a storm anyways.” Don griped bitterly. “But to answer your question: No, I haven’t.”

“Not even your sister?” Pecha asked, clearly genuinely concerned and sympathetic.

“The last time I saw Hickory, we just got into a big fight.” Don crossed his wings haughtily. “Listen, not everybody gets along like you and your parents do.”  _ But I don’t hate Hickory. I actually do miss her and I want to make things up with her. _

“I know.” Pecha replied with a sigh. “And I don’t what to nag you, but Hickory did send you a letter last month-”

“Along with the extra gifts and snacks. I know.”

Pecha glanced back at Don with a small frown. “I’m not forcing you to do this because I think you owe your family. I’m  _ suggesting _ this because I think at the very least, you’re worried about your sister and you want to talk to her.”

Don grumbled, not because Pecha was wrong but because she was right.

A few seconds passed where Don and Pecha just stood there quietly before Pecha began to step away. “C’mon.” She carefully tugged Don’s wing. “Let’s help Porygon-Z update the bulletin board.” The scorbunny didn’t say anything else as she guided him across the room.

\---

Clouds of mist, sea, and rain circled around the Tidal Temple. At this point, the entirety of the island was being threatened of being submerged by the swelling ocean. 

The island’s devoted guardian had already seen to it that the locales had evacuated and were out of harm's way, but time was of the essence. The ocean that Tapu Fini had watched over for centuries was not just being invaded or corrupted; it was being  _ devoured.  _ The legendary guardian decided to instead gather as much sea as they could muster around their sanctuary and starve whatever parasite was feeding on their domain, but the desire to crush the invader by sending the tides back ten-fold was becoming increasingly tempting. 

For now, however, Tapu Fini would have to collapse the walls of wind and sea spray. A visitor was here to seek their counsel. Above the temple, the purple-grey clouds were allowed to split to allow the sun’s rays to shine on the shrine of coral and sea shells as a newcomer swam through a shallow bay accompanied by the Guardian’s personal flying messengers.

Propelling herself forward, an elegant lavender bird pokemon perched herself on a piece of jagged coral next to Tapu Fini and respectfully bowed. 

“Tapu Fini. A visitor is here to speak with you.” The oricorio spoke, not raising herself out of her bow. 

“Thank you, Orochi. You may ease yourself.” Fini told the messenger and Orochi rose back to an alert position that betrayed her calm gaze.

The swimming pokemon finally made it inside of the shrine, slowly rising to the sandy beach to reveal themself to be a kingdra with brilliant blue scales, and wearing an ornate scarf and badge that signified their status as a member of the Adventure Federation.

Fini had no reverence for the Federation, but the pokemon they saw, they recognized immediately.

The first time they saw this kingdra was when they found her collapsed on the sand; battered, exhausted, scared and heartbroken. Thanks to Fini’s care, the kingdra was able to be treated and found new life within herself; and through a new found devotion of serving the sea. 

“Tapu Fini.” The kingdra reverently lowered her head, waiting to be addressed first.

Fini smiled, letting their gaze soften to help signify that their guest was welcome. “Kassandra. It has been some time since you last returned to us. By what tides have you been brought back to the Temple?”

“I’m afraid It’s for nothing good.” Kassandra replied sternly. “The Federation seeks counsel with you immediately. They say that they can no longer tolerate your storm surges.”

“You’re with the Federation, are you not? Can you speak to me on their behalf?” Fini said slyly. They would much rather talk to Kassandra then be forced to speak with all of those self-important explorers. 

Kassandra glared at her badge for a moment. “I’m not here on behalf of the Federation. I’m here as a Servant of the Land-Spirit.”

Fini smiled again approvingly. It was reassuring to hear that no matter how time passes or how far Kassandra travels, she will always remain loyal to them. 

“That’s why I came, to warn you-” The kingdra paused, her voice faltering slightly as she began to lower her head shamefully. “That, and to seek your guidance.”

“What is it, friend?” The guardian asked with concern.

Kassandra raised her head up, but the hesitation in her eyes was evident. “I believe somebody will soon reach the Neo Ruins and release the Chimera.”

Fini’s gaze narrowed and a wave crashed against the back of the temple. “...How have you come across this information?”

“The Federation interrogated someone who claimed to have ferried an explorer to the Stone Continent.” The kingdra’s voice cracked, and she shut her eyes as if to fend off tears. “They say they were a Partner of Life.”

Fini’s eyes widened slightly, afraid for Kassandra what this exactly meant. 

“He’s a Flygon.” Kassandra confessed, a single tear falling down her cheek. “His name is-”

It was rare for Tapu Fini to allow themself to feel sympathy for others, especially for those who weren’t their fellow Guardians, but the heartache and betrayal radiating from Kassandra was simply too much to ignore. 

“I’m sorry, Kassandra.” Fini floated closer, catching the kingdra’s head in their hand. “Are you certain he is here for the Ruins?”

“Yes.” Kassandra jerked her head out of Fini’s palm, the heartbreak in her eyes now being distorted into anger. “I know the pirates who ferried him as well; they wouldn’t lie.” 

“And have you told the Federation about this…?” Fini inquired, slowly tilting their head. 

“I haven’t told them a word.” The kingdra scoffed. “I wouldn’t trust them with this anyways.”

“And you’re right not to.” Fini said in agreement, their tone cold and unwavering. “As if the Spacers weren’t bad enough-” The guardian hissed under their breath.

“Send me to the Ruins.” Kassandra commanded, standing tall, her red eyes shimmering with tenacity. “I’ll capture and bring the Chimera to you and the rest of the Guardians. I-”

“Permission to speak, Tapu Fini?” Orochi interrupted, her voice calm and restrained.

Fini looked back towards the messenger and nodded in consent. “You may, Orochi.”

“I don’t wish to offend you, Kassandra, but I worry about you going on this mission.” The oricorio said, staring at the kingdra apprehensively. “Should this explorer happen to be the Flygon you know, I worry about your ability to successfully defeat the Chimera. The Chimera, as you know, is a grave threat to the Guardians. Being able to defeat them and capture them is your main priority.”

Kassandra stared at the oricorio with a betrayed expression before she began dismissively shaking her head. “No! No… I know that.” She looked back at Tapu Fini. “Trust me, I understand what’s at stake-” Her brows creased over her eyes pleadingly. “But you also understand why I have to go.”

Tapu Fini shared a cold glance with Orochi before turning back to Kassandra. 

“The ocean is an entity that cannot be controlled and restrained. The tidal wave in your heart must be allowed to crest and fall.” Fini explained, standing firm. “When it crashes, no matter how much destruction is left in its wake, you will always be able to find yourself back to me.”

Kassandra’s eyes widened toward Tapu Fini intently. 

“Don’t fight against the current. Let it carry you.” Fini said in a commanding tone that betrayed the vagueness of the actual words that were said.

Kassandra, however, seemed to get the message loud and clear, and straightened her posture once more, now with a newfound confidence and drive. “Even if Life itself betrays me, I’ll still have myself and the sea.”

“That you will, Kassandra.” Tapu Fini said, slowly nodding. “I wish you the best of luck on your mission to the Mainland.”

The kingdra once more looked at the golden badge pinned on her scarf and quietly scoffed. “I won’t be needing it.”

Kassandra turned back to the bay and began to slowly slip back into the water before quickly diving and swimming out of sight. 

Tapu Fini hummed to themself approvingly before turning and moving back to the center of the shrine. “Is there anything else you need, Orochi, before I rebuild the mist wall?”

Orochi hopped gently off of her perch onto the sand, taking a few small steps towards Tapu Fini. “...I have to ask; is sending Kassandra off on her own really wise?” The oricorio looked up the guardian, her eyes wide with concern. “I don’t doubt her physical abilities when it comes to defeating the Chimera but...you saw how angry she was. Letting her go when she's clearly suffering could end with her hurting herself - not to mention others!” Orochi winced slightly for having raised her voice against Tapu Fini. “I know we have greater concerns, but I don’t wish for anyone to get hurt especially if we can prevent it.”

“-So you suggest we let her anger swell in private?” Tapu Fini asked, raising an eyebrow. “Kingdra has already suffered enough. Her partner apparently left her for dead while faking his own demise. We must let Kingdra deliver the justice she deserves!”

“You’re suggesting Kingdra should get revenge?” Orochi asked, completely shocked by Fini’s statement. “-But what if the situation with Flygon has a diplomatic solution? I don’t see why violence is-”

“Tell me, Orochi-” Tapu Fini jerked their head around with an irritated glare. “When has diplomacy helped us with quelling the threat that has been devouring our ocean? Diplomacy doesn’t help reclaim what was stolen.”

“Tapu Fini-” Orochi stammered pleadingly, her eyes darting about the temple anxiously. “What Kingdra is dealing with is the fallout of a personal relationship. That’s not the same as-”

Before Orochi could finish that thought, Tapu Fini began to clutch their chest in pain and knelt over, their carapace shell closing in around them.

“TAPU FINI!” Orochi cried, quickly grabbing one of Fini’s hands, the shell still not fully closed as Tapu Fini began panting with pained breaths.

“ _ The Spacer- _ ” Tapu Fini winced in pain, their hiss now sounding like the sound of sea spray hitting rock more than any normal voice.  _ “They- It ate more of the ocean!” _

The oricorio glanced over one of the walls of coral and shell towards the sea where she saw a whirlpool twisting down into an inky-black abyss. “There- There’s more of them.”

Tapu Fini gasped again as they quickly whipped out their free hand, glowing with a purple-blue light.  _ “If it wants the ocean-” _

Feeling her instincts take over, Orochi quickly let go of Tapu Fini’s hand and began flying as far from the temple as she could, violently flapping her wings past the gathering cyclone of mist and rain that was threatening to trap her. 

_ “IT CAN DROWN IN IT.” _

A gust of wind blasted into Orochi and she heard a thunderous crash of waves beat on the island beneath her and the sky went dark. The oricorio had to quickly twist her body around as she began to fall before she finally managed to catch wind beneath her wings and regain balance. Looking down, only the upper levels of the Tidal Temple were visible, as now the entire island was being flooded and submerged by a swelling tide. 

  
  



	11. The Connecting Threads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sorry for recruiting you two out of the blue like that-” The flying-type apologized, sheepishly kicking some dirt up from the floor. “But I think I’m going to need your two’s keen eyes for this one.”
> 
> “How so?” Pecha inquired, stepping a bit closer.
> 
> “Something about this just gives me a bad vibe.” Trumbeak mumbled, staring blankly at her badge. “You two have shown great attention-to-detail in the past so I thought you two might help me see if I’ve missed anything.”
> 
> Pecha and Don shared an unconvinced glance.

“Is now a bad time?”

Pecha, Don and Porygon-Z all turned towards Trumbeak who was approaching them at the Bulletin Board.

“Not at all.” Porygon-Z replied, finishing some inputs in their holo-monitor. “We just finished reviewing the jobs.” They looked back up at the flying-type. “Do you need me?”

“I just received a weird tip from an anonymous explorer.” Trumbeak mumbled, handing Porygon-Z her badge.

Porygon-Z pulled up a projection of the message log on Trumbeak’s badge. “It says an unidentified pokemon has been spotted around the crossroads-”

“Yeah, and they’ve been bashing public property.” Trumbeak added angrily. “People have recorded the cross-roads signs being slashed and chopped up and down the trails. The sentries are requesting us to check it out.”

“Anything past the walls is technically our jurisdiction.” Porygon-Z mused to themself. 

“Why do I get the feeling we’re about to roped into this?” Don whispered to Pecha. 

In that moment, Trumbeak turned towards the rowlet and scorbunny with a hint of a smile. “I’d like to take Team FlareFeather with me to take a look around if you don’t mind.”

Don mouthed a silent curse and Porygon-Z nodded in agreement.

“You’re free to do so.” Porygon-Z said affirmatively. “Keep us updated on your findings.”

“Yes, Porygon.” All three of them replied, Don with noticeably less enthusiasm.

Pecha and Don began to follow Trumbeak towards the front gate.

“Sorry for recruiting you two out of the blue like that-” The flying-type apologized, sheepishly kicking some dirt up from the floor. “But I think I’m going to need your two’s keen eyes for this one.”

“How so?” Pecha inquired, stepping a bit closer.

“Something about this just gives me a bad vibe.” Trumbeak mumbled, staring blankly at her badge. “You two have shown great attention-to-detail in the past so I thought you two might help me see if I’ve missed anything.”

Pecha and Don shared an unconvinced glance. 

Don was the next to step closer. “I know that this is technically guild jurisdiction, but Officer Gumshoos and his crew are still expected to pay attention to stuff like this. Why aren’t you going to them?”

“I have a theory…” Trumbeak grumbled, stuffing her badge back into her bag. “And if I’m right, it means the Spear City Officers are going to be of no help.” Without elaborating, Trumbeak fluttered a bound through the gate, forcing Pecha and Don to sprint after her.

The trio made it the Spear City wall and watchtower without too much delay. Several local guards were lounging around the tower lazily, as they were prone to do during the day. The skies outside were still overcast and the ground was noticeably damp due to the rainstorm from last night. Pecha and Don followed Trumbeak past the post, this being the farthest they’ve strayed from the guild since rescuing Mimikyu in the Waste Swamps.

Trumbeak’s head swiveled to check their surroundings as they made it to the crossroads. At the crossroads was usually a large map on display that showed all of the trails heading out of Spear City, the mystery dungeons located along those trails, and a signpost that labeled the paths. 

What awaited the guild members today however was an almost empty map board save for a single square of canvas, and a pile of finely chopped lumber where the signpost was supposed to be. 

“What the-'' Upon registering what she was seeing, Pecha’s legs began to quickly propel her closer to the debris, Trumbeak and Don following suit. Before she got too close, Pecha skidded to a stop and checked her surroundings one last time to make sure nobody else was nearby.

“Anybody want to try and tell me what I’m looking at here?” Don griped, gaping at the pile of wood. 

After checking their surroundings, Trumbeak stepped towards the debris, which Pecha considered to be a signal that it was safe to move closer too. 

While Trumbeak examined the board and Don checked the broken signpost, Pecha took to picking up the torn pieces of map located on the board. The first thing that immediately stuck out to her was how straight the tears in the canvas were. The tears were _perfectly_ linear and the canvas didn’t seem to have stretched that much when they were torn; indicating that whatever was used to make the tear was _wickedly_ sharp and the culprit was incredibly precise.

Weird. 

Picking up the pieces in her paws, Pecha also noticed that the pieces were all squares; _perfect squares_ . _Squares of perfectly equal size_. 

_Weird._

The pieces accidentally cut into one of paws, causing her to flinch and reach over to suck the sore spot, turning her attention to the board to see what was left. From the corner of her eye, she saw only a square piece of the map remained in the top-right corner. Trumbeak was staring at the board intently, but there was a darkness in her gaze that perplexed Pecha.

“W- What’s up?” Pecha asked, before licking the small cut on her paw again. 

Trumbeak just slowly turned her head towards her, her gaze now radiating confusion and fear. “-This.” Trumbeak murmured before gently ratting the back of her wing against the board, creating the unmistakable sound of gently thumping _glass_.

Pecha felt like a stone dropped in her stomach. “ _What._ ” She gasped out loud.

Trumbeak hesitantly glanced back at the board before looking back to Pecha. “It’s a little known secret that we seal the map here with a glass pane to protect it from water damage and what not-”

Pecha stepped to the side to get a better look, and the board did indeed catch and reflect light like glass. “So- Is it like sealed in with glue- or-” She stammered, still not sure what she was supposed to think about any of this.

“No.” Trumbeak answered quickly. “The pane is just put in there super tight, we usually have a psychic pull the pane out so we can update the map.”

“So...A psychic did it?” Don suggested, waddling over to join them in front of the map. 

“Maybe, but-” Trumbeak turned around and pointed a wing back to the watchtower. “The watchtower has a special antenna that records psychic fluctuations-”

“So we would at least have some sort of indication on record to explain it…” Pecha mumbled before taking a meaningful pause. “But there isn’t?”

Trumbeak shook her head. “Not that I’ve been aware of.”

“The officers could just be withholding the information-” Don said with a hint of sass. “I mean- wouldn’t be the first time.” He added quickly to his own defense.

“That’s...true-” Trumbeak shrugged slowly. “But these are the facts we got.”

Pecha leaned forward to look through the glass and at the wooden itself. The wooden board didn’t have any scratches; or at least, any scratches that were fresh enough to directly connect it to the case. 

_Weird._

Pecha then turned her attention towards the top-right corner where the last square of the map remained. Before, the whole map displayed a zoom in of the region between Spear City and Lechi Town. The top-right corner, both then and now, pictured Mt. Night Top, the highest in the Eastern Mountains. 

Pecha began sorting the stack of small squares in her paw, this time with extra caution to avoid cutting herself again. Eventually, Pecha found the square that depicted Lechi Town and the stretch of the Charcoal Trail that went past her house-

_Focus._

The scorbunny took a deep breath before turning back to Trumbeak. “The one piece of the map that was left up is the peak of Mt. Night Top.” She explained, pointing to the square in question. “Also, all of these pieces are the _exact same size_ and have _the most precise cuts I’ve ever seen_. Trust me, I just gave myself a paper cut.” 

Trumbeak took the stack of squares in her wings, luckily having layers of feathers to protect herself from any potential cuts while Don began rambling.

“OK, first of all-” Don interrupted with a flat, unamused expression. “One: You can’t get paper cuts from map canvas-” He said, taking one of the squares out of Trumbeak’s wings into one of his own. “Two: there’s no way they’re all the exact size.”

“See for yourself, then-” Without warning, Pecha hoisted Don up on her shoulders, prompting a scared squawk out of him as she balanced him in front of the corner. “Check.”

Pecha felt Don’s weight shift slightly. “Oh.” He said, disappointed. 

Pecha smiled to herself slightly as she leaned down to let Don hop off her shoulder.

“The rest of these are...pretty even, too.” Trumbeak said, pausing her sorting of the squares to look back at Pecha. 

“OK, So that’s weird-” Don said, handing his square back to Trumbeak and stepping towards the broken sign post. “But can we take a look a look at this cause-”

Pecha walked over and stopped next to Don, looking down at the pile. The pieces of wood were cut clean. Now while Pecha could explain the canvas away through someone using a canvas cutting tool ( _although, where would the suspect be able to use one within one night only to bring the map pieces back to the scene)_ but the wood left Pecha at a loss. 

The wood was just as precisely cut as the map, not even leaving _splinters._ The size and angles of the cuts however were much more variable, but the signature of the case stayed consistent. A tool that was incredibly sharp was used here, though on two very different materials. 

The motive, however, was a bit harder to parse. 

“It...could be a threat detected towards explorers?” Trumbeak suggested, but it was clear that she wasn’t very sure in that theory yet. 

“I mean…most people use the trails at some point moving in and out of here.” Don murmured, pacing around in his own deliberation. 

“Not true.” Pecha replied, shaking her head in disagreement. “Nowadays, merchants and suppliers have access to teleport devices and explorers use badges to warp to dungeons anyhow. The trails are primarily used by hobbyist hikers now but-”

“This board and signpost have been maintained by the guild for years, long before Aurorus became Guildmaster too.” Trumbeak added with a concerned frown. 

“Guess that means we should return to the Guild then.” Pecha hummed, stepping away from the debris as she felt herself beginning to get anxious. 

“Yeah.” Trumbeak replied uneasily, stepping away from the board as well. “I’ll show Porygon the remains of the map and see what they think. Let’s head back.”

Trumbeak, Pecha and Don quickly made their way back through town, noticeably more rattled than they were when they first left the guild. 

Reentering the main hall, Pecha was surprised to see Aurorus waiting for them, her expression serious and somber. 

“What did you find?” The Guildmaster asked suddenly without any pretense. 

“T-the map at the crossroads was torn up and the sign-post was chopped up-” Pecha began, though she was obviously cracking under Aurorus’s cold gaze. 

Trumbeak went ahead and showed the Guildmaster the pieces of the map, looking just as surprised by Aurorus’s sudden appearance as the apprentices. “Here’s the pieces of the map. What’s wrong? You look like-”

Aurorus grimaced, screwing her eyes and lowering her head with evident anger and disappointment. “I’m sorry. It’s not you, it’s-”

“You’ve returned!” Porygon-Z suddenly exclaimed from across the room, holding a holo-panel before zipping across the room to Aurorus’s side. “Following that tip Trumbeak mentioned, I decided to do a bit of digging and _guess what I found.”_

The mix of vindication and frustration was evident even in Porygon-Z’s robotic voice and Pecha and Don leaned forward to look at the panel.

Pecha recognized that the panel was showing a picture of the traveler’s camp located in Spear City. The campgrounds in town are open to incoming explorers and hikers where they can set up their tents without any cost. A couple of days ago, The Spear City officers reported that one of the tents was burned but this picture showed a tent that was torn; _torn in perfect square pieces_ on the ground next to it.

Aurorus took a deep breath, her eyes still screwed shut in anger. “The officers lied to us again. They told us the tents were lit on fire.” She said, and Pecha felt the air chill.

Without another word, Aurorus turned to march back towards her office, Porygon-Z immediately following suit. Trumbeak looked around the room nervously before going to follow her other staff members into the halls.

“Well, now what?” Don asked, now standing in an empty room with Pecha. 

“I...don’t know.” Pecha answered, again feeling loss, but now not knowing what to do. “What I _do_ know is we probably shouldn’t be bugging Aurorus right now.”

Don hopped closer to the center of the hall. “Sounds about right. Want to grab a bite to eat from the dining hall?” He asked with excitement that made it seem he had already forgotten all of the foreboding news they had heard previously. 

Pecha rolled her eyes to let Don know that she didn’t approve of his lax response to all of this but shrugged in reluctant agreement. “I’m only agreeing because we can’t assist guild staff if all the guild is preeoccupied.” 

“Cool! Let’s go!” Don said triumphantly, already fluttering and bounding into the hallways.

Pecha quickly sprinted after him and the duo continued to rush through the stone arc halls until they reached the dining hall. The Spear City Guild’s dining hall was placed atop the cape that oversaw the ocean. The guild itself was constructed like a stone castle and the dining hall was one of the only sections of the guild with stained glass windows. 

Several local exploration teams were seen eating about the room as custodial and culinary members of the guild quietly busied themselves with their own work or chatting with the teams about their recent explorations. 

Don hopped forward, pointing towards one of the serving stations. “So, I’m thinking about grabbing some Plain Seed Pie. What do you-”

“Hello, Rowlet. Hello Scorbunny!”

Don squawked with the loudest scream Pecha had ever heard from him and had to lean forward to catch him. While Don was stuttering and flapping his wings wildly, Pecha caught sight of Mimikyu standing right behind where Don was before, grinning excitedly.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” The ghost-type squeaked innocently. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Rowlet!”

Don, in some sort of power move, rotated his head around in the way that has scared multiple pokemon before (including Pecha, not that she would ever admit it).

Mimikyu, however, just giggled in amusement. “Oh! What a neat trick! I can do something similar!” Mimikyu quickly hopped and twirled in the air, twisting her decoy-head to face backwards. 

Don suddenly began howling with laughter and hopped out of Pecha’s arms. “Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious!” He hopped forward, again, seeming to have completely forgotten any worries he had before in the name of his own amusement. “I’m mad about you scaring me, but still; Hilarious!” He reached over and gently pat Mimikyu’s decoy head. 

“Yun- Oh! Team FlareFeather!”

Pecha turned to see Flygon walking towards them. 

“I- uh-” Flygon paused for a moment as he saw Don continue to stretch his head around as Yuna playfully twisted her decoy-head around. “Oh. I was concerned Yuna had startled someone again but you seem to be-”

Don rotated his head around and stared at Flygon with a mischievous smile.

“-Just fine.” Flygon said with a click of his tongue, before turning towards Pecha. “How has your guild work been?”

Pecha was a bit surprised to hear Flygon attempt casual conversation but proceeded to answer. “Well, we were just abandoned by Trumbeak and Porygon in the middle of our duties, but we’re doing fine.” 

Flygon nodded. “I was talking with Aurorus earlier before when she suddenly had to attend to her other duties. Whatever it was she wasn’t happy about it.”

“Yeah, we noticed.” Pecha replied dismissively. “Don’t worry, you’ll get caught up on the details eventually. Word gets around pretty quick here.”

“Explorers love to talk.” Flygon said with a smirk. 

Pecha quirked an eyebrow in response to this. This...reminded her of something but she couldn’t quite remember what.

Don and Mimikyu quickly dashed off to pick up food from one of the serving areas and Pecha and Flygon followed, albeit much more casually.

“So how are you settling into the guild? Did you get a good room?” Pecha asked, attempting to continue the conversation while Don began placing food on his plate.

“Oh yes, our room is great.” Flygon replied enthusiastically. “The Spear City Guild is much larger than, uh-, what I expected.”

Pecha hummed, taking note that Flygon is still acting cagey; or at the very least, continuing to be careful with what he says. The fact is, if Flygon’s going to be joining the guild on the expedition, the guild as a whole needs to know more about his background. Before, Pecha’s curiosity was fueled by her own excitement to learn about the Prism Globe, but now she was starting to get...not suspicious, but critical of Flygon’s behavior. What better way to get some details out of the guy than have lunch with him. 

Pecha quickly grabbed a plate and a piece of pie before getting seated at the table Don and Mimikyu already were, Flygon joining them as well. Pecha let everybody quietly eat for a moment, _all part of the interrogation process._

“You seem to be pretty experienced with explorers, Flygon.” Pecha said offhandedly, taking a calculated bite of her pie.

Flygon froze, staring at Pecha apprehensively.

“Most pokemon tend to think of explorers and dungeon-divers as weirdos and oddballs, but you seem to get along with them just fine.” Pecha continued, not making eye contact and instead focusing on her food. 

To this, Flygon lightly scoffed. “There’s eccentrics everywhere in the world. I don’t judge solely on lifestyle.”

“And you’re pretty well-traveled, too. Aren’t you, Flygon?” 

Something shifted on Flygon’s face as his smile fell into a frown. “Yes, I am.” His gaze focused on Pecha, and it was clear he was now somehow offended. “I’m sorry, what is this about?” After saying that, he flinched and guilt washed over his expression, but he didn’t say anything.

Pecha also grimaced in response to this. She didn’t mean to make Flygon mad. That said...she had figured out what exactly it was she wanted to know. “Flygon, are you an explorer?”

Flygon’s eyes lit up, and seemed to have been struck by multiple emotions. 

Both Don and Mimikyu were now turned towards him, waiting intently.

The dragon-type shuddered as he took in breath. “No. I used to be though.” 

“Really?” Don asked with bright eyes. “What rank were you?” 

Pecha didn’t need Don to turn and give her a wink to know that he has her back.

Some of the hesitation seemed to leave Flygon’s body as he began to relax. “We- I was a Diamond Rank.” 

Now it was Pecha’s turn to be surprised. “Diamond Rank?” She echoed, clearly impressed. “I- I had to have about you before.” She said to herself, not realizing she was speaking aloud. “I spent a lot of my time researching explorers and dungeon-adventurers…” _This CAN’T be the first time I’ve heard of him._ “Were you part of a team?”

Just like that, Flygon stiffened again as he drew in a sharp breath and unmistakable sadness flashed across his face. 

At that point, Pecha didn’t even need to hear his answer, but now she hated herself for asking. 

“Yes, I was. Not anymore.” Flygon answered, masking his sadness with a cold stare.

Something clicked. As distracted as Pecha was by a crushing feeling of shame for bringing this out of Flygon, she did recognize that this was the answer she was looking for. 

She’s heard about Ajax, Flygon the explorer before! She’s heard about his team! But she has figure out _why_ and _how?_

“Are you...excited about going exploring again?”

Pecha turned towards Don, intrigued by his question. Don just stared unwaveringly towards Flygon. 

Flygon stared back at him, his mouth agape. 

“It...doesn’t take a psychic to figure out you’ve had some rough patches with exploring.” Don said lightly, but his sympathy was genuine. “But you wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t want to, right?”

Flygon blinked, seemed to have been drawn back into a clearer headspace. He cleared his throat slightly. “I’m here on a mission-” He clasped his claws around the golden pendant on his scarf, raising it forward. “I’m here as a Partner of Life.”

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, this caused Flygon to lose some of Don’s attention as Pecha watched the excitement from the rowlet leave. _Oh well._ She thinks she can continue the rest of the conversation now.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed you wear an Alpha Wheel, but this is the first I’ve heard of the Partners of Life.” Pecha explained, leaning forward slightly to show she was paying attention. 

“We’re just like any other followers of a legendary-” Flygon said sheepishly, but the warmth in his eyes was evident. “We’re dedicated to helping legendaries like Xerneas and Mew. Our main domain is Life.”

Don rolled his eyes, forcing Pecha to nudge him. Just because Don hasn’t had the best experience with legendaries doesn’t mean that he should let that color his opinion of Flygon.

That said...the Partners of Life did sound a bit campy, even for Pecha’s taste.

“Just Life?” Pecha asked, hoping Flygon could go into more detail.

“Oh. Yes.” Flygon’s grin stiffened. “I admit it does sound a bit vague for the uninitiated.” He took a deep breath, before his expression returned to a patient smile. “We often deal in matters of the spirit. While followers of Kyogre tend to draw their power from the ocean, followers of Meloetta draw power from music and so on...we draw power from our connections with other pokemon.” He chuckled softly. “Uh- Even that is a bit hard to grasp...Basically, we believe that the best thing we can do for the world is help, not just our own, but as many pokemon as we can, and forge powerful bonds with them.”

“Sounds like a load of...bird-feathers.” Don grumbled, clearly wanting to have said something more crass.

“Hm.” Flygon stared at Don for a moment before proceeding to pick up where he left off. “Anyways, I’m here to find the Prism Globe. The Prism Globe is an artifact with power to manipulate the elemental types. We’ve detected distortions that hint to the Prism Globe being needed to help restore balance. Uh, by that I mean- heal and mend the distortions.”

“What do you mean by distortions?” Don asked, his interest in what Flygon was saying having been suddenly renewed. “You mean like...mysteriosity?”

“Yes!” Flygon nodded excitedly. “These distortions often manifest as mystery dungeons and increased randomness in mystery dungeons. The Prism Globe is one of two objects that naturally and inherently heals distortions that the Partners of Life know of. But due to circumstances, the Prism Globe is only the one worth searching for right now.”

“Do these...distortions do anything else?” Pecha asked. “I’m going to be honest, I thought the clashes of the Tapu Guardians were what’s causing the high mysteriosity on the Stone Continent.”

“No.” The dragon-type shook his head dismissively. “Legendaries...while powerful, don’t create or cause distortions; at least the Tapu Guardians don’t. If anything, the distortions contribute to the legendaries’ animosity.”

Don shifted uncomfortably to this. 

“So...if you find the Prism Globe-”

“I can help ease the tensions of the Guardians.” Flygon replied solemnly. “I’ve heard of the destruction they’ve continued to bring to the Zenith Islands. The Partners of Life don’t necessarily deal with just one part of the world; we deal with it all. That’s why I’m here, to help find a solution where everyone is satisfied.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	12. Uneasy Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is-” Flygon said, looking around the room with wide eyes. “Is the guild usually this busy in the afternoons?”
> 
> “No.” Pecha quickly answered, scanning the room as if looking for the quickest way through the crowd should they have to escape. “-But when Porygon-Z isn’t able to update the boards automatically, this happens.”

Pecha, Don, Flygon and Mimikyu headed back to the Main Hall together; exchanging few words after Flygon gave a bit more insight on the Prism Globe and his mission. 

They had to stop their stroll however when they arrived to see the Main Hall overrun with dungeon teams badgering about the bulletin boards. Out of the corner of his eyes, Don saw Team SuperNova currently struggling to disengage the crowd of clamoring freelancers.

“Is-” Flygon said, looking around the room with wide eyes. “Is the guild usually this busy in the afternoons?”

“No.” Pecha quickly answered, scanning the room as if looking for the quickest way through the crowd should they have to escape. “-But when Porygon-Z isn’t able to update the boards automatically, this happens.”

Clefairy seemed to be desperately using her badge to update the board manually while Growlithe was angrily snapping at the equally crabby explorers. One such team (to Don’s chagrin) was Team Fortune. Thievul and Ambipom had no restraint when it came to airing their grievances towards the apprentices, but Ledian on the other hand seemed to be casually amused by all of the chaos.

There was a small part of Don that admired Ledian and he wished that he could be just as generally unbothered by things as her but that was easily overridden by his desire to have everybody in the hall  _ just shut up  _ for five minutes before they gave him a migraine. 

Luckily, Pecha was already shoving her way through the crowd towards Growlithe and Clefairy while Don just opted to flutter over the rabid mob. 

“-Listen, we’re doing the best we can so can you all just back off!?” Growlithe barked over the crowd, clearly having reached the end of her patience. 

“Move it!!” Pecha shouted, joining her fellow fire-type in corralling the crowd back as Don joined Clefairy huddled in the corner.

“Clef, what’s happening?” Don asked hurriedly, trying to ignore the sound that was exploding about the room. 

“I’m having to punch in everybody’s stupid missions in manually!” Clefairy shouted, half-panicked and half-outraged, still furiously tapping away on her badge. “Where’s Porygon!? Why haven’t they updated the board!?”

“Last time we saw ‘em, they were going to a meeting with Aurorus.” Don hurriedly explained, before having to stop himself when he was caught off guard by a loud shriek. 

Don had to physically hunch over at this point and clutch head with his wings in order to keep himself from getting overwhelmed by all the noise.  _ Can anybody here just SHUT UP? _

“SILENCE!”

At this point, Don almost had to cry due to the assault on his senses, but was astonished to hear that only noise following that last shout was nonexistent. After taking a moment to gather his breath, the rowlet turned around to see that all of the explorers had their attention turned to Flygon, surprisingly enough.

“You all do realize that yelling won’t actually help your missions get registered faster, right?” Flygon said coldly towards the crowd. “Not to mention at apprentices, of all things?”

Ambipom stepped forward, crossing her arms indignantly. “Pft. When we were apprentices, we never messed up on the job like this.”

Don turned and saw Clefairy wince in sadness, her ears pulling back in distress. 

Flygon whipped his head towards the Ambipom, practically staring daggers into her. “So that gives you an excuse to yell at your fellow explorer like a spoiled child?”

_ Never thought that this would be where Flygon would draw the line with his patience.  _ Don thought to himself as he watched Ambipom back away from the dragon-type.  _ Can’t say this development is unwelcome though.  _

“Guildmaster Aurorus says for every non-apprentice to leave the Guild immediately!”

Don turned back towards the hallway to see that Mareanie, Zigzagoon and Bruxish had entered the room and were continuing to usher some of the exploration teams out of the way. 

Don was approached by Bruxish, who just greeted him with a cold stare, as was expected from the fish of few words. The rowlet stepped aside to let Bruxish move past him and go over to Clefairy.

“Thank you, Clefairy.” He nodded towards the fairy-type approvingly yet sternly.

Clefairy’s ears perked back up and she gave Bruxish a weak smile as she backed away from the board to let Bruxish finish the job. 

Bruxish’s angler glowed and the fliers on the board were all lifted off at once. The fish pokemon just casually hummed to himself as he began to swap the papers with each other. Bruxish began passing some of the papers off to Don; the papers that listed missions that have already been completed, Don figured as he quickly leaped around trying to catch all of the discarded papers. 

“OK, the board should be synced now.” Bruxish mumbled approvingly, turning back to the crowd with a lazy smile. “If everybody can follow me, I’ll help answer any remaining questions you have.” With that, Bruxish led the exploration teams outside.

Pecha, Mareanie, Zigzagoon, Growlithe and Flygon turned to begin picking up some of the trash and stray items that had been left in the Main Hall while Clefairy slumped against the wall with a melancholy expression on her face.

“They were all apprentices at some point too, would it kill them to be a bit more lenient?” Clefairy grumbled to herself, brushing a hand through the curl of hair on her head. 

“Apparently having a guild certification is a disease.” Don snarked at her supportively.

To this, Clefairy gave an appreciative chuckle. “Leave it to Bruxish to put everybody in their place.” 

“Yeah, and thanks to Flygon for getting them to shut up in the first place.” Pecha added with a smirk, glancing over her shoulder towards the dragon-type in question.

Flygon closed his eyes and softly scoffed. “From my experience, apprentices do the hardest and most important work in a guild. It’s their training exercises and various duties that keep dungeon guilds running half the time.” 

Pecha’s eyes widened as she quickly turned to begin following Flygon. “Wait, were you…?” She trailed off without finishing her question, but Don could easily guess what she was going to ask.

Don’s attention, however, was turned to Mareanie as the water-type approached him. 

“Me and Orlando were helping Bruxish track weather when we saw that the boards weren’t being updated. That’s when we figured Porygon must have been preeoccupied and that you guys were probably swamped in here.” Mareanie explained casually. “So are you and Scorbunny helping Flygon around?”

“Yeah.” Don answered, still struggling to show the proper amount of enthusiasm due to mental fatigue. “I was hoping to be able to catch Aurorus before the day is over but-” He snickered with a hint of bitterness. “It doesn’t look like that will be happening.” 

Mareanie gave him a small but understanding smile, before turning back to join his teammate.

With a heavy sigh, Don tiptoed over to where Pecha was having a conversation with Growlithe. “Hey, Petch? Mind if I take off and go back to the room. I need to destress.”

Pecha quickly looked over at him, looking slightly concerned. “‘Course, Don.” She nodded. “Hope you feel better.”

“Yeah, me too.” He mumbled as he began to make his way back to the dorm room.

\---

A couple of days have passed since Flygon and Mimikyu arrived at the guild. Don’s spirits seem to be getting somewhat better but considering how well practiced he is in masking his emotions, that could easily change.

Aurorus, similarly, seems to be maintaining an uneasy air of calm. The excitement she had about the expedition has now been quickly shadowed by her seeming dread about dealing with the unfolding Gumshoos situation.

All in all, this has contributed to Pecha having a realization that she just had to get out of the guild for a bit and try to ignore her quickly mounting problems. 

This is what led Pecha to actively seek out Porygon-Z right after a rather uneventful morning address, Don accompanying her tentatively.

“Wait, why are we going to Porygon?” He asked with a snap in his tone that indicated he wasn’t pleased by this development.

“OH, just trust me!” She whispered to the rowlet before she made within an earshot of Porygon-Z. “Hey, Porygon?”

Porygon-Z quickly looked up from their holo-panel at the sound of Pecha’s voice. “Yes. What is it, Scorbunny?” They said, looking over her analytically with their darting eyes. 

“Can I request for us to volunteer at the Magus Library today? You gave us a choice between guild work and volunteering around town and this is what I would like to do.” Pecha explained, trying her best to convince the usually stubborn Guildmaster’s Assistant. 

“Yes. That will be adequate.” They replied flatly, seeming to still be distracted by their work on the holo-panel. “I’ll simply find someone else to clean the-” They continued to mumble in a voice that was only audible to themself.

“Uh, what was that?” Don asked, tilting his head curiously.

Porygon-Z sighed, their head drooping down as if drained of energy. “The Adventure Federation is sending inspectors today. We usually perform incredibly well, but I’m afraid the case with the mysterious attack on the camp has left us a bit more disorderly than usual.”

“Do you need us to stay then?” Pecha asked. For as much as she needed to get some space, she would hate to put Porygon-Z in a hard spot. Porygon-Z may be the one most likely to disapprove of Team FlareFeather’s conduct but at the end of the day, Pecha recognized they’re just trying to do their job and still holds a great deal of respect for them because of that. 

“No.” Porygon-Z dismissively shook their head. “The work you do outside of the guild has just as much value as the work you do in the guild. The task of organizing our members and our headquarters falls on me.”

“So who’s the inspector this time?” Don asked leaning forward a bit.

“Sigilyph.” Porygon-Z answered, rolling their synthetic eyes with clear disdain.

“Oh geez.” Don cringed. “That guy. Yeah, I don’t envy you for putting up with him.”

“Best of luck to you, Porygon.” Pecha replied, similarly sympathetic to Porygon-Z’s situation. “I think we’re going to go ahead and head out but let us know if you need anything.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind. Keep up the good work.” Porygon-Z said, though lacking the usual enthusiasm they had when wishing apprentices off.

Pecha and Don turned and left the guild, beginning to make their way to the library.

“I hope you're fine with going to the library today.” Pecha said to Don as they walked. “I was thinking that you’re getting tired of the noisyness of the guild and that you would appreciate being somewhere quiet.”

Don looked at her, slightly surprised. “Oh! No, that’s-” He shyly turned away. “That’s actually really nice of you. Thanks.”

Pecha smiled back at him. “It’s no big deal. Not only that, but maybe we can see if we can pick up more information for the expedition.”

“And see your new friend?” Don looked to her with a coy smile.

Pecha grimaced in order to try and hide her slight embarrassment. “Shut up.” She retorted playfully.

With a bit more walking, Pecha and Don arrived at the Library but immediately stopped when they saw Thievul and Ambipom of Team Fortune waiting outside the building.

Thievul and Ambipom both seemed to look oddly uncertain about something, their stiff posture and dour expressions indicating that they’re anxiously waiting for something. 

“Ugh, it’s Team Fortune.” Don mumbled to Pecha as soon as he caught sight of them. “Is it too late to bail?” 

“Maybe we can just sneak around them and hope they don’t notice…?” Pecha suggested as she Don began to circle off of the road but Thievul already caught sight of them. 

Thankfully, for whatever reason, it didn’t seem like he was going to try and talk to the team. Instead, Pecha watched him lean over to whisper something in Ambipom’s ear before the two began to make their way down the old dirt path beside the library that led to the Orb Shop. 

All in all it looked like they were up to no good. 

“Oh no.” 

Peach turned back to Don; being met by the rowlet’s disapproving stare. 

“Please don’t tell me we’re going to follow them.” Don whined unhappily.

“They’re clearly up to no good though.” Pecha said back to him. 

“Aren’t they always?” Don griped, crossing his wings sassily.

Pecha answered by beginning to walk across the road. “You don’t have to follow me. You can stay here.”

“Nah, I’m going with you!” Don said, quickly leaping after his partner. “If you’re going to dunk on Team Fortune, I at least want to be there to watch!”

The two quickly ran across the road and down the dirt path towards the orb shop where they found Thievul and Ambipom waiting for them. 

“Is there any reason why you two are following us?” Thievul asked as Pecha and Don approached, just as unamused as he usually is whenever they try talking to him. 

“No.” Don answered immediately, reflecting Thievul’s own snark.

“Is there any particular reason why you two are creeping around the library?” Pecha quickly shot back, ignoring Don’s reply.

“What’s it matter to you? Buzz off.” Ambipom snapped, using one of her tails to direct Pecha and Don away. 

Pecha felt a flame in her chest spark with her anger. The scorbunny went to a take step forward before Don quickly dragged her back.

“It’s not worth it, Pecha!” He shouted, shoving her behind him. “C’mon, let's go!”

Don was then interrupted by the sound of approaching arguing from inside the orb shop.

Everybody turned to see Ledian ushered out the door by a very agitated Mismagius. 

“C’mon! You owe me one, Melody!” 

“Lydia, get out of my shop before I decide to cast Curse on you-”

“Oh, face it! It’s not like you’re getting any business anyways!”

Mismagius floated past the door, her mouth tightened in a sharp grimace as she took a few moments to respond to the ledian flying away from her. “...You’re the one who said half of my orbs were junk. Why do you suddenly care about my merchandise?”

Ledian floated across from her with a flat expression on her face. “-Listen, I just need you to hear me out.”

“Too late.” Mismagius quickly snapped at the bug-type, her gaze becoming clouded in darkness. “All you’ve talked about is ‘how bad you have it’ and ‘how much you deserve my help’. That bridge has been burnt for a long time. You want help? Try somewhere else. Goodbye.” With that, the ghost-type quickly turned to retreat into her shop but Ledian tried to chase after her.

“All I need is one Fortune Orb!” Ledian shouted desperately, causing Mismagius to flinch.

“You mean the ones you’ve been stealing?” Mismagius replied in a trembling voice, her head obscured behind the shop’s door.

Ledian’s feet landed on the ground as she froze, still as a statue. 

“Don’t try and deny it.” Mismagius continued, turning to give Ledian an icy gaze. “I know you like to think you’re above the consequences and maybe you are-” She inhaled a sharp, stiff breath. “But you won’t get anything past me.” 

Pecha and Don tried to slowly back away from the shop without being seen. 

“This wasn’t part of the plan.” Pecha said under her breath, still tiptoeing backwards. 

“The girls are fighting~” Don hummed to himself. 

Luckily for them, it seemed like Team Fortune and Mismagius were still to preoccupied to notice Team FlareFeather hastily run down the dirt path back towards the entrance of the library. 

“Any clue what that was about?” Don asked once he and Pecha stopped in front of the library, both of them lightly panting to catch their breaths.

“Other than general drama?” Pecha asked rhetorically, checking over her shoulder to make sure Team Fortune didn’t try to follow them. “But no - I know that Mismagius and Ledian used to be in a team together, but I don’t know anything else about that.”

“Ughhhhhh-” Don groaned, stretching his head back. “I’m so sick of drama! I can’t believe I’m saying this; but can we just go and read some books instead?” 

“Yeah.” Pecha murmured, beginning to head towards the library’s front door. “Sorry for the detour. L-let’s go.” 

  
  
  
  



	13. Crossing Roads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don was officially in a rut, just like Pecha warned him about. (Dumb Pecha! Being right all the time!) As the week has gone on, his sleep has been getting progressively uneasy and his ability to focus has reached an all time low.
> 
> Pecha’s tenacity, usually a source of motivation for Don, has now turned into a detriment, as the rowlet now finds himself being more jealous of his partner’s enthusiasm more than anything. Rationally, he knows that none of this is Pecha’s fault but that hasn’t stopped him from randomly snapping at her in moments of frustration; and the following shame that comes from that just makes him feel even worse.

“Howdy.”

Ajax turned his head towards the door of the guild common room to see Scorbunny standing there, holding a new book in her arm.

“Hello, Scorbunny!” Ajax greeted her cheerfully. “Have you found something new to show me?”

“Yeah, I did.” Scorbunny sternly nodded before she moved to take a seat at the table where Ajax was seated. 

_ Just as aloof as usual.  _ Ajax quietly noted, gently setting down his warm tea cup and reaching over to clean the space up for Scorbunny. “Where’s Rowlet?”

“Don’s still feeling a bit burnt out but he’s currently hanging out with some of the other apprentices at the training grounds.” Scorbunny replied, absentmindedly flipping through the book. “Anyways, this book contains some general information about the eastern trail.” 

Ajax craned his neck slightly to get a better look. The book had several pictures displaying plants, rock formations and the occasional map. 

“When hiking the eastern trail you need to be prepared to pick up supplies along the way.” Scorbunny explained, turning to a page with pictures of various berries. “‘OR-ahn’ Berries are pretty common on the trail but they’re easily mixed up with ‘oh-REN’ Berries. It’s best to familiarize yourself with the similarities and differences beforehand.” Scorbunny pointed to two pictures of very similar blue-colored fruits. “Oran Berries grow with white flowers while Oren Berries have no flowers.” 

“I see…” Ajax hummed, very impressed by Scorbunny’s knowledge on this subject. “I only know the basics of berry identification.”

“My dad has some botanist training and he talks  _ a lot _ whenever we go hiking.” Scorbunny snarked with a fond smile. “Everything I’ve ever learned about berries has been against my will.”  Scorbunny flipped to the next page of the book which seemed to have some pictures of mountainous highlands. “-Oh, speaking of-” She looked to Ajax with a hint of excitement in her eyes. “These are the Pecha Highlands. Known for their natural pecha groves. This is where my dad did most of his botany training-” She paused briefly in a moment of shyness. “They also happen to be my namesake.” 

“Your father clearly has a lot of fondness for nature.” Ajax replied, amused by this new fact he’s just learned about apprentice.  _ Pecha’s father certainly sounds like an interesting character. No wonder Pecha is so worldly for her age.  _

“My dad has always been the nature-lover. I’m the most tech-savvy person in my family.” Pecha explained with a hint of arrogance. “Though when you’ve lived in the mountains for your whole life, guild life is a bit hard to adjust to.” Her gaze turned back to the pictures of the highlands with a melancholy expression. 

Ajax blinked with surprise in response to this rare showing of vulnerability from the usually prideful scorbunny. “Leaving home for the first time can be difficult for anyone. It’s understandable for you to be getting homesick.” He replied stiffly, trying not to let too much of his own emotions taint his attempt to reassure Pecha. 

“Oh, right-” Pecha said hastily before turning back to Ajax. “You just crossed the ocean. Sorry.” Her ears drooped down and she forced a grin. “My problems probably seem small in comparison to yours.”

“Homesickness is a subjective problem.” Ajax responded calmly. “While, yes, crossing the ocean does seem to be intense to you; when I was your age, I felt similarly about when I left home to join a rescue guild for the first time.”

“Oh.” Pecha quitely smiled, satisfied by Ajax’s answer before her eyes widened in realization. “-Wait, so you apprenticed at a guild?”

Ajax paused for a moment in deliberation. Telling Pecha and Don about his previous occupation as an explorer was already an incredibly strange choice for him to make. Ajax allowed very few pokemon to know anything about him that went beyond his membership of the Partners of Life, and to tell two curious apprentices that he used to be an explorer already went far beyond his usual rules for boundaries. 

Yet, Pecha and Don reminded him so much of the best times he had when he was still exploring and their persistence has somehow only endured them further to him. While Team FlareFeather are undoubtedly receiving good training from the Spear City Guild, Ajax also feels that offering details from his own experience might help them excel even more. (Or perhaps, avoid the mistakes he made.)

Afterall, helping pokemon is his duty. 

“Yes, I did.” Ajax answered with a wistful smile. “I was an apprentice of the Granite Guild on the Sand Continent.”

“...Granite Guild…” Pecha mumbled to herself as if trying to recall something. “I think Rhyperior of Team Raider apprenticed there…”

Ajax flinched briefly.  _ Pecha has that much of an encyclopedic knowledge about explorers? That means she can easily figure out who I really am. _

Pecha’s gaze slowly traveled back towards Ajax, stopping herself when she noticed Ajax’s sudden panic. “Oh, sorry. Did I say something?”

Ajax choked back his dread and shook his head. “No, sorry-”  _ I need to stop panicking like this. Even if Pecha did figure it out-  _ Ajax blinked in a moment of clarity.  _ I...I don’t think she would even mind. Pecha’s a lot of things, but she’s not the type of person to pass judgement without hearing the whole story.  _ The flygon took a deep breath.  _ I need to have more faith. _

“Apologies.” Ajax continued, now having regained his composure. “I’m just shocked about how deep your knowledge of explorers goes.”

“Oh.” Pecha chuckled slightly with embarrassment. “Yeah, I have a sort of good memory with these things. I just have a pretty big passion for dungeon-diving is all.”

_ That much is clear.  _ Ajax snarked to himself.

“Anyhow-” Pecha turned back towards the book. “Let’s cut the chit-chat and get back to learning about the trail, shall we?” 

“Of course.” Ajax nodded in agreement.

\---

“-Meeting dismissed!”

Don stretched his wings lazily as he wobbled out of formation from the morning address.  _ Another day at the grindstone. _ He grumbled to himself. 

Don was officially in a rut, just like Pecha warned him about. ( _ Dumb Pecha! Being right all the time! _ ) As the week has gone on, his sleep has been getting progressively uneasy and his ability to focus has reached an all time low.

Pecha’s tenacity, usually a source of motivation for Don, has now turned into a detriment, as the rowlet now finds himself being more jealous of his partner’s enthusiasm more than anything. Rationally, he knows that none of this is Pecha’s fault but that hasn’t stopped him from randomly snapping at her in moments of frustration; and the following shame that comes from that just makes him feel even  _ worse.  _

Hopefully this all explains why Don proceeded to stare daggers into Porygon-Z when they approached the team to give them their daily assignments. 

“Aurorus would like to speak to you.” Is what Porygon-Z said instead, catching Don off guard.

_ Oh joy.  _ He groaned to himself.  _ What are we getting nagged for this time? _

He was so caught up in his own agitation he didn’t even hear the short exchange Pecha and Porygon-Z had before the normal-type floated off. 

“C’mon, Don.” Pecha said as she began to lead Don to the Guildmaster’s Office.

_ Yeah, Whatever. _

Upon arriving, Don was confused to see that Aurorus was waiting outside her office for them. Strange, but not entirely unwelcome.

“Ah, there you two are.” She smiled at them approvingly. While Aurorus has still been in a foul mood since the update on Gumshoos’ ongoing case, she still seemed very earnest with her excitement to see Team FlareFeather. “No need to go to my office. I just have to tell you two something quick.”

Pecha and Don both stopped in front of her to wait for her to elaborate.

“I’m allowing you two to take field jobs again.” The Guildmaster said simply. “Through the past couple of weeks, you two have shown your ability to adapt to new challenges and have earned multiple approving comments from Indeedee, Eldegoss, Comfey, and Meowth; just to name a few. I expect you two to keep up that same dedication with your dungeon explorations.”

Don’s eyes widened and he blinked shocked. “Wait- Really?”

“Yes, really.” Aurorus replied with a hint of amusement. “I’m thoroughly impressed by all of the hard work you put into the local community. You two deserve to be commemorated and rewarded. Check with Trumbeak this evening when you return. She’ll give some extra gifts I’d like for you two to have. Good luck with your explorations.” With that, Aurorus bowed her head before she turned to walk down the hallway.

Don didn’t know how to respond. Internally, he was honestly ecstatic from this news but he still felt so tired and exhausted that he didn't know how to express it.  _ What good is being rewarded if you burn yourself out by trying to work for it?  _ He asked himself bitterly, completely unaware of the scorbunny next to him he suddenly tackled him into a hug.

“Don!” Pecha yelled happily as she wrapped her arms around the rowlet, picking him up off the ground. “We flipping did it!!!”

“W-” Don gasped as he tried to adjust his balance in Pecha’s arms, being both awkward and warm in his friend’s embrace. “What-”

Don turned to look at Pecha’s face and saw her eyes were shut tight and she was gently sniffling.

“Man, I thought we were never going to get comments like that from the Guildmaster ever again.” The scorbunny choked as a tear streamed down of her cheeks and she set Don back on the ground.

Don was both thankful to have some space between them again yet oddly disappointed that the hug was over. 

“I was so afraid what my dads would say when they found out what happened-” Pecha whimpered, trying to muffle her sobbing with her paws. “But we-” She quickly rubbed her arm against her face to brush off the tears before she looked back at down with shining, sincere eyes. “Thank you so much. Thanks for sticking with me. I-” She swallowed down one last sob and took a deep breath as her breathing steadied and her stance relaxed. “You’re a great friend.”

Like a spark ignited by a flint, Don’s enthusiasm rushed back into him for the first time in days and suddenly he felt tears start to well up around his eyes. “T-Thank you.” Don quickly tried to wipe the tears off his face from his wings, stifling his own chokes. “I mean- Uh- It’s no prob.” He took a step and casually shrugged in an attempt to seem cool. “That’s what friends are for- No-” He rolled his eyes at his own cheesy line, stopping when he felt Pecha gently pat his head. 

“Let’s-” Pecha slumped with a relaxed sigh. “Let’s go get a job from the bulletin board.”

Don nodded in agreement, trying to ignore the fact his general grumpiness seems to be returning after that brief moment of victory. Ugh.

With a skip in her step, Pecha practically bounced her entire way to the bulletin board with Don leisurely following. 

“So, Don?” Pecha stopped in front of the board, rocking excitedly on her heels. “Let me know if you see any missions you like.” Still grinning, Pecha pulled out her badge, excitedly scrolling through the holo-panel interface. 

Don just gave her a stiff smile. Just looking at the rewards, nothing stood out as noteworthy, which is perhaps for the best all things considered. Don didn’t exactly feel like taking any jobs that would be too tough considering he and Pecha haven’t been inside mystery dungeons for several weeks, but he didn’t want anything too easy either. 

“There’s a lot of jobs in Misty Meadows.” Pecha suggested, raising her paws to show Don the missions in question. 

Don looked over the jobs himself and hummed in agreement. “Yeah, those all seem good.”  _ Nothing exciting, but the fresh air might do me some good, at least. _

Pecha began hopping up to grab the missions and Don noticed Porygon-Z approaching the duo from behind. 

“Aurorus told me that you two would be taking missions again. I expect great things from you.” Porygon-Z simply nodded with a hint of cheekiness before turning to return to their own work while Don was again reminded of his immense unease. 

\---

Arriving at the crossroads, Don immediately took note of the flimsy barricade placed around the broken signpost and the currently empty map display, once again leaving him to wonder about the mysterious culprit. The entire situation screamed ‘DANGER’ to the rowlet and continued to give Don a terrible feeling.

Needless to say, he made great care to stay as far from the debris as possible without Pecha noticing as they made their way out of town. 

“-Kay.” Pecha pulled out her adventurer’s badge, pressing the button in the center causing it to begin emitting a subtle blue light along its grooves. “You ready to warp?” Pecha turned towards Don with a confident smile. 

Don however, was having trouble tearing his eyes away from the broken signpost. He’s tried to think of some rational explanation for just how  _ sharp  _ and  _ clean _ the wood was cut. Even a pokemon like Scyther or Bisharp couldn’t slice through wood like that. And the fact that Don couldn’t come up with a more rational explanation or excuse for what he saw terrified him -  _ immensely.  _

“Hey, Don-”

Don was finally pulled out of his haze enough to realize Pecha was still waiting for a reply.

Pecha frowned with a worried look in her glance. “Don’t...just don’t worry about the signpost right now.” She said in a weak voice that indicated that she was disturbed by the scene too. “C’mon, we have a job to do.” 

  
  


“Yeah…” Don teared his gaze away from the post as he took his place by Pecha’s side, taking a deep breath in anticipation of the upcoming warp.

\---

Pecha took a step forward and shuddered slightly when her paw was met with cool, wet grass. 

“Yep.” Don stepped forwards, surveying the surrounding scenery. “This sure is Misty Meadows.”

The rolling fields of tall grass and wildflowers were waving lazily under the slowly drifting clouds of fog that settled over the area. Looking before her, Pecha saw a Storage Statue, a distinctive stone sculpture made in the likeness of pokemon like kangaskhan and provides explorers with universal storage; a familiar sight to see before entering a dungeon.

Just besides the statue, the tall grass had been curled and warped over to create a tunnel that would lead into the labyrinth. 

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Don asked, with a hint of impatience. “Let’s go.”

Pecha couldn’t help but smile with excitement, nodding in agreement. “Right. I’ll lead the way.”

The scorbunny strode with purpose into the mystery dungeon as the scenery rapidly changed as the surrounding grass started to weave themselves into sturdy walls, trapping Pecha and Don within a narrow corridor. As the duo made their way deeper inside, the mist changed hue slightly and began to layer itself overhead like a solid ceiling. Finally, the corridor opened up to reveal a “room” in the dungeon layout, with several more corridors branching out of it. 

“Which way?” Pecha asked, examining the room as Don made his way beside her.

“Left is best.” He replied in a sing-song voice.

“I like the way you think.” Pecha began to sprint towards the left corridor as Don fluttered behind her.

Pecha however had to stop right in her tracks as she was met face-to-face with wild shiinotic, it’s dull, zombified gaze making her body go cold. Pecha was still stunned, she barely processed the beige, ball-shaped blur that flew over her shoulder and tackled the shiinotic to the ground.

“Don’t let it’s zombie eyes scare you, Pecha!” Don shouted, beginning to beat his wind-infused wings against the enemy before her. “If we lose to an enemy we  _ both _ have a type advantage against, it’s going to be so embarrassing! Gah-” 

Don’s gloating was interrupted as the shiinotic sprayed a cloud of sleep spores right in his face, snapping Pecha back into focus. While Don tried to cough out the spores, Pecha sprang forward, focusing on drawing heat towards her right heel. 

A spark of fire ignited around Pecha’s foot just as she stomped it against the shiinotic’s chest, kicking her left foot against it next to send it further down the foggy corridor. Pecha could barely see the shiinotic as they rose back to their feet and began to retreat back into the dungeon.

With the enemy gone, Pecha knelt over to help bring Don back to his feet. “That was some good fighting partner!” She said with a chuckle.

Don loudly tried to spit out the rest of the spores from his mouth. “I’ll admit- It’s good to get back into the groove.” 

“Keep that attitude up-” Pecha replied, continuing her way down the path. “-Cause we’ve got some stairs to find.”

  
  
  



	14. Charting Courses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Famous? Don echoed in his head. While it’s true that many young pokemon go into dungeon work in search of fame and treasure, Don admittedly only joined the Aurorus Guild as a way of making ends meet without giving much consideration to long-term goals. The rowlet has always had a passing interest in dungeon research, unlike Pecha who had a passion for exploration, but hearing about the possibility of being well respected and renowned by scientists and historians made Don incredibly excited. 
> 
> “Yeah, I would’ve never thought of that!” Zigzagoon added enthusiastically. 
> 
> “I wonder what the human ruins are like?” Growlithe asked herself as she took a seat at the round table. “I mean we’ve seen human artifacts before but the ruins are going to have their best tech. I’m just not even sure what to expect.” She laughed with a hint of bashfulness.

Another day passed since Team FlareFeather were put back on field jobs again. All things considered, Don was starting to feel better now having more time to process everything that has happened in the past couple of days. The rowlet was now going over some of the expedition plans with a party of Pecha, Flygon, Mimikyu, Aurorus and several over members of the guildcrew inside the common room, realising that focusing on one thing is much more manageable than worrying about many small things. 

“-So I’ve been talking with Zane about possible methods on getting inside the ruins.” Aurorus said, continuing where she left off in her review of the Neo Ruins. “There’s been many expeditions to the ruins before but nobody has managed to get inside.”

_ That’s a puzzle to be sure. _ Don mused.  _ The fact that there's been so many others who've tried to get inside and failed isn’t exactly helpful. Even ghost-types couldn’t phase inside- Heck, even psychic-types couldn’t TELEPORT inside!  _

Flygon simply shook his head. “There must be a way. The Tree of Life wouldn’t send me here if it were impossible.”

Don groaned in response to this.  _ If the Tree of Life is so helpful why wouldn’t it just tell you how to get inside? _ Don slightly shook his head.  _ C’mon, focus. There has to be something we’re missing. Brute force, tunneling, ghost-phasing and teleportation are all off the table; so what hasn’t been tried before? _

The other guild members began talking about the ruins again while Don focused his concentration.  _ -Wait.  _ He said to himself, beginning to humor an idea. “Say, Aurorus? When was the last expedition to the Neo Ruins, again?”

“-About 15 years.” Aurorus answered.

_ -Then that means… _ Don pulled out a polygon-panel (a special type of holo-panel Porygon made for more permanent use) and began typing into it’s search bar. “-And that’s before Entercards were well known about, right?” Don quickly flipped the panel over and showed Aurorus a picture displaying a set of square-shaped cards engraved with various symbols.

Aurorus’s eyes widened in realization. “No. Nobody has tried Entercards yet!”

“That’s it!” Flygon cheered. “Entercards must be the way inside! Unlike phasing or teleporting there’s no way for them to be blocked!”

“They’re super finicky though.” Pecha pointed out, still looking unconvinced. “-And it’s not like any of us know the in’s and out’s of how they work. If you mess up even slightly, you can teleport yourself to the other side of the world with no clue of where exactly you’re going.”

Don flinched at the thought, as did many of the other guild members, although Flygon just had a flat and melancholy expression in response to this. 

_ Add that to the list of weird things about Flygon.  _ Don shrugged, turning back to Aurorus to see if she had any ideas.

“Zane does have some experience with Entercards when they were training to be a Dungeon Researcher-” She explained. “-That combined with they’re natural ability to calculate on the fly means that we still have a way of safely using the Entercards ourselves.” She said with a smile.

Pecha scoffed slightly with a smile. “Alright then.” She said in agreement. 

“The only road block left is getting some Entercards ourselves.” Don said, pleased about being able to figure out a potential way to get inside the ruins.

“Hmm, yes.” Aurorus hummed, lowering her gaze in concentration. “The only place where you can get Entercards on the Stone Continent are from the Dungeon Researcher’s Academy in Rinn Town.”

“-And that’s...likely expensive?” Flygon asked, his antennas drooping slightly, clearly anticipating to be disappointed. 

“I’ll talk to Zane to see what our options are.” Aurorus interrupted, though Don figured she just said that to stall for time and avoid disappointing Flygon. “I’ll go and check with them now actually about the possibility of using Entercards to get inside the Ruins.” With that, the Guildmaster turned and left the common room with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

As Aurorus left the room, the rest of the guild crew noticeably relaxed and began to talk amongst themselves more casually.

Pecha pulled out a sealed envelope from her bag and began to slowly rip it open, Don, Flygon and Mimikyu all looking over to get a better look.

“What’s that?” Mimikyu asked innocently.

“A letter from my dads-” Pecha grunted as she just tore the rip open, having grown impatient with trying to open the envelope.

“You have two dads? That’s so neat!” Mimikyu squeaked. “I just have a dad and an uncle!”

Don saw Flygon snort affectionately at Mimikyu with a paternal smile. 

“Yeah, it is.” Pecha said bluntly before looking back at the letter. “Right now, I just hope they’re not mad at me for sending my last letter later than usual.” With that, the scorbunny brought her face closer to the letter as her eyes began to scan through the lines. 

Don rolled his eyes somewhat. He couldn’t even think of anything Pecha could do to get her parents to get genuinely mad at her just from the one time he met them before when they visited the guild for a day to hang out with Pecha. 

Don saw Pecha chuckled to herself when she reached the end of the letter. “Yeah they’re not mad at all. They say that I can come home anytime for a week off-” She glanced over to Don with a devious glimmer in her eyes. “They also said to bring my ‘funny, round bird friend’ next time I go home too.” 

Don burst out into laughter.  _ Pecha’s parents are so funny I don’t even mind their dig at me.  _ He thought to himself through his laughter as he heard several other pokemon begin to chuckle along with him. 

“I’m still impressed that Rowlet thought of the Entercards.” Bruxish suddenly interrupted from the corner of the room, looking at Don with an impressed smile. “If you turn out to be right about this, you’re going to be famous among dungeon researchers.”

_ Famous?  _ Don echoed in his head. While it’s true that many young pokemon go into dungeon work in search of fame and treasure, Don admittedly only joined the Aurorus Guild as a way of making ends meet without giving much consideration to long-term goals. The rowlet has always had a passing interest in dungeon research, unlike Pecha who had a passion for exploration, but hearing about the possibility of being well respected and renowned by scientists and historians made Don incredibly excited. 

“Yeah, I would’ve never thought of that!” Zigzagoon added enthusiastically. 

“I wonder what the human ruins are like?” Growlithe asked herself as she took a seat at the round table. “I mean we’ve seen human artifacts before but the ruins are going to have their best tech. I’m just not even sure what to expect.” She laughed with a hint of bashfulness.

“The Partners of Life have extensive knowledge of human history.” Flygon began, looking to the apprentice. “Being honest, their technology is not that much different from ours, given how historically, pokemon have used human artifacts as a basis for our own tools. That said, it’s best that we handle the artifacts with the utmost care; not just for the sake of historical preservation but for the respect of the humans that once lived among us.” He explained with a serene expression. 

Don grimaced again at Flygon’s incredibly idealistic sincerity. “-That actually leads me to a question: If the Prism Globe is some pokemon-made object, how did it get inside the ruins in the first place?”

Flygon turned to Don with a perplexed frown. “That...I don’t quite know-”

“There’s some folk tales that say the Prism Globe was stolen by the humans.” Pecha said abruptly. 

Flygon craned his neck over and stared at Pecha as if she had grown a second head. “What? Where did you hear  _ that _ ?” 

“Hattrem at the library told me.” Pecha answered, beginning to lower her gaze with a dubious expression. “-Not only that, but other folk stories like that are pretty common in my hometown.”

_ Even folk-stories have a hint of truth to them.  _ Don mused to himself, turning to see what Flygon’s reaction to that would be.

“Yes, well-” The dragon-type stuttered, trying to maintain an air of authority. “I am well aware of historical tales in which humans did not always get along with pokemon, so that very well may be how the Prism Globe got there.”

“I guess the ‘how’s’ don’t really matter.” Pecha continued. “All signs point to the Prism Globe being in the Neo Ruins, and that's all that really matters.” She summarized with a smile. 

The other guild members murmured in agreement and even Flygon conceded with a polite nod. 

\---

Aurorus came back to the common room after a while to continue planning for the expedition before dismissing everybody for the night. Don was currently making his way back from the Mess Hall with some of the other apprentices when he saw Porygon-Z float towards him down the hall.

“Hey, Porygon.” Don greeted him, splintering off from the other apprentices slightly.

“Hello, Rowlet.” Porygon-Z responded with casual cordialness. “Hey, can I ask you about something real quick?”

“Yeah, sure. Hang on guys.” Don said back to Zigzagoon and Clefairy before hopping closer to Porygon-Z. “What’s up?”

“You and Pecha have still been helping plot out the expedition with Flygon, right?” Porygon-Z asked, slightly turning their head as if to make sure they haven’t been followed.

“-Uh, yeah.” Don answered, concerned about Porygon’s odd behavior. “To be honest though, it’s Pecha who’s been doing most of the work though.”

“I see…” Porygon-Z mumbled as their voice trailed off.

Don cocked his head worriedly. “What’s all this about?”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get a lot of information from Flygon as far as his background is concerned.” Porygon-Z said in a low voice, their gaze still shifting around hesitantly. “I was hoping you and Pecha have gotten some more details out of him just from casual conversation.”

“What...what exactly do you need to know?” Don asked without really thinking, and he immediately began to get a sinking feeling in his chest.

“Mostly, we just want to know about his work history.” Porygon-Z replied. “We know that he works for the Partners of Life but the info I managed to get on them has been unfortunately slim-” They confessed with slight embarrassment. “-Even beyond that, I haven’t been able to figure out what occupation he had before or even where he was born!” Porygon-Z raised their gaze back to Don with an almost pleading look. “If you have anything that could help me out, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

“-Well, I know he was an explorer, but that’s about it-” Don immediately flinched with wide eyes when he realized he said that aloud. 

“What?” Porygon-Z asked with a confused expression. “-Than he has a file on him somewhere on the Connection Net! Did he tell you anything else?”

Don started to stumble back, not knowing how he was supposed to handle this situation he’d gotten himself in. “Listen, just because Flygon told us some stuff, didn’t mean he consented to us telling everybody else-” He stuttered, trying to desperately explain his way out of betraying Flygon’s trust further.

“Rowlet, this is serious-” Porygon-Z said, almost with a sigh. “Listen, I don’t believe that Flygon is up to anything suspicious but-” The synthetic pokemon angrily grumbled to themself before turning back to Don. “-considering the fact we have an ongoing case of a dangerous pokemon destroying property around town, Gumshoos is currently forcing us to provide as much as we can.” 

“What?” Don asked, his mouth going wide in shock. “-Wait, Flygon’s a suspect right now?”

“Gumshoos...has unfortunately raised some legitimate questions and has also pointed out that these incidents have only started occurring since Flygon arrived in town-” Porygon-Z continued, though they were evidently unsure of themselves. “If you know anything else about Flygon, please tell us.”

Don paused for a moment, his brow furrowed in anger.  _ I get where the questions are coming from, but Flygon is in no way dangerous.  _ “OK, I can tell you a bit more.” Don murmured, still giving Porygon-Z a critical gaze.

“Anything helps.” Porygon-Z replied. “What is it?”

The rowlet scoffed slightly. “Well, I can tell you you’re going down the wrong trail. Flygon used to be an explorer - a Diamond Rank one to be precise. He also trained at a dungeon guild-”

Porygon-Z’s eyes lit up. “Wait, really? That means-”

“-Which means he’s likely not responsible for all destroyed property.” Don interrupted with evident snark. “Why in the world would an explorer of all things be the one to destroy signposts, maps, and tents managed and used by explorers and guild members? It makes no sense.”

Porygon-Z paused, their eyes widening in realization when Don pointed this out. 

“-And even more obviously-” Don continued. “Why would the perpetrator then go to a guild of all places while they’re still going about vandalizing guild property?”

“True.” Porygon-Z conceded. “Again, Neither me or Annabeth think Flygon is responsible, but-”

Don stopped for a moment now that he was able to vent some of his frustration. “-Wait, do you still have no idea who did it?”

“Not just that-” Porygon-Z averted their gaze and quietly whispered. “-I analyzed the pieces of the signpost Trumbeak investigated with your team and...there’s not a pokemon or move I could find that matched.”

Don’s beak went slack again. “What!?”

“Of course, I’m going to analyze it again, but without any specific pokemon to match it to, the investigation has no leads.” Porygon-Z explained somberly. 

Don just stared back at Porygon-Z, not knowing what exactly to say to that bombshell. 

“Well, thank you for your time.” Porygon-Z said, turning around to go back down the hall. “I’ll go report this to Aurorus.”

Don watched as Porygon-Z floated back down the hall, being left with a feeling of worry and guilt. 

\---

The next morning, Team FlareFeather found themselves heading towards the job bulletin board once more. Pecha noticed that Don was acting a bit more jumpy than usual but didn’t say anything about it. 

Pecha was about to start pointing some jobs out when she was interrupted by Tangela quickly running towards them.

“Team FlareFeather!” Tangela shouted, skidding and stumbling to a stop. “T-There’s somebody who wants to see you!”

Pecha looked over to Don so they could share a confused glance. 

“Uh- She’s a Hattrem! And she has a mission for you!” Tangela elaborated further when he saw the team’s confusion.

_ Rene!  _ Pecha looked up, feeling excited energy begin to spread to her limbs. 

“Thanks, Tangela!” Don said to Tangela, probably realizing that Pecha wasn’t going to thank the younger apprentice herself. “We’ll go see her right now. C’mon, Pecha!”

In a rare role-reversal, Don took the lead as the duo headed towards the front gate while Pecha desperately tried to think of ways to greet Rene when she saw her.

Waiting outside the stone walls was the hattrem in question who was currently looking down at her Dusk Stone necklace with an anxious expression.

“Hey Hattrem!” Don shouted, getting the psychic-type’s attention. “You need something?”

The worry in Rene’s eyes did seem to fade slightly upon seeing Pecha and Don as she did begin to smile. “Oh! There you two are.” She breathed a small sigh and stepped closer. “Yes, I have a favor I need to ask of you.”

“What’s wrong?” Pecha asked first, slightly stumbling as she made her way towards Rene, being hastened by the realization that something was wrong. 

Rene’s smile twisted slightly as she tried to mask a pained expression. “It’s my aunt. You recall me telling you about her storied history with Team Fortune, yes?”

Pecha blinked, feeling dread began to sink in her chest. “Yeah, I do. Did-” Pecha paused for a moment in order to find the right words to say. “Did something happen?” 

At this point, Rene’s mask of calm began to completely crumble as she took in a shuddering breath and shut her eyes before beginning her explanation. “Yes. Something did happen.” The hattrem looked back at Don and Pecha. “Yesterday, my aunt put up a fake job on the bulletin board. She did it to lure Team Fortune into a trap.”

“Wh-” Don gasped, his eyes so wide they were bulging out of his head. “Wait, Did they take it?”

“Yes.” Rene nodded with a frown. “My aunt is pretty crafty, and she can be incredibly vindictive under certain circumstances...such as this.” The hattrem quickly averted her fearful gaze. “I-I’m afraid that my aunt is going to get herself hurt or someone else. I managed to spot Team Fortune this morning but I wasn’t able to catch them before they left. This isn’t exactly normal protocol for requesting a mission-”  Rene muttered, gingerly twisting a tuft of hair from her ‘hat’ before returning her pleading glance back at the team. “That’s why I need to ask you personally - Will you please make sure my aunt and Team Fortune don’t get hurt?”

“We will.” Pecha answered almost automatically. “Where are they?”

“The dungeon is ‘Magi’s Rock’-” Rene answered, her expression now hardened with urgency. “It’s between the Waste Swamps and Misty Meadow.” 

“Yeah, we know where it is-” Pecha replied, turning to Don, who still seemed a bit distracted but didn’t have any objections. “Don, ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Don muttered, though admittedly without Pecha’s confidence. “I can’t say I like Team Fortune, but I get why you’re worried, Hattrem.”

Pecha looked back at Rene, giving her a stern, if not shaky, nod. “We’ll go right away.”

“Thank you, Pecha.” Rene replied, her sparkling eyes filled with gratitude that honestly made Pecha want to melt into a puddle right there. 

“R-right then-” Pecha stuttered, snapping her head back towards Don before her blush became too obvious. “C’mon, let’s go!”

Pecha began to sprint with speed that was unprecedented for even her as she put all of her focus towards getting to Magi’s Rock as fast as possible...that and making sure she didn’t make a fool of herself to Rene even further. 


	15. Twists and Turns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don and Pecha had only gone to this dungeon once before, and even then, they were other members of the guild at the time. Magi’s Rock is typically considered to be a more dangerous mystery dungeon due to it’s notably potent mysteriosity. All of this is why Don was having a harder time making jokes about the mission as usual.

Don quickly fluttered over one of the large rocks in the path to the mystery dungeon. Magi’s Rock lied in a shadowy valley and was known for its common overcast. No matter what time of day it was when you went there, the area always felt dreary and foreboding which was especially the case today considering the circumstances that have led the team here. 

Don and Pecha had only gone to this dungeon once before, and even then, they were other members of the guild at the time. Magi’s Rock is typically considered to be a more dangerous mystery dungeon due to it’s notably potent mysteriosity. All of this is why Don was having a harder time making jokes about the mission as usual.

Pecha quickly peaked her head over one of the many large boulders that led into the mystery dungeon as if to search for danger. “No sign of Mismagius or Team Fortune.” She mumbled, the sharpness of her breathing telling Don that he wasn’t the only one feeling more nervous than usual. 

“So what’s the plan?” Don asked hurriedly, honestly just wanting to kill the awkward silence before it made him even more anxious.

“We’re going to peacefully disengage Mismagius and Team Fortune when we spot them.” Pecha explained, holding several small seeds in the palm of her paw. “I have Sleep Seeds and Stun Seeds-” She handed them off to Don. “-You have better aim then I do so you hold on to these.” 

Don slipped the seeds into his personal sack as Pecha began to step towards the entrance of the dungeon. Gathering his courage and stuffing down his nervousness, Don stiffly followed her as they walked into the rocky gorge.

A familiar purple-ish haze thinly veiled the ground beneath them as the rocks gradually grew taller and more compact, creating the cobbled walls that funneled them into the first floor of the dungeon. While this was standard fair for dungeon crawling, Don couldn’t help but feel that something was  _ off.  _ Well, more off than usual. 

He noticed that if he stared down one of the corridors for too long, it seemed warp and twist; sometimes with the walls taking on a different appearance. Don didn’t have much time to process that as Pecha was already hurriedly navigating her way around the labyrinth, only stopping to check that Don was still following her. Their movement through the labyrinth was so efficient that they made it through the stairs without any incident. 

When Pecha placed her foot on the first step, however, the walls of the room shifted slightly.

“What-” Don gasped, before beginning to scramble up the stairs with Pecha guiding him with the same urgency. 

The walls however continued to change as they climbed up to the next floor, loud rumbling being heard all around them as if the structure of the dungeon itself was being pushed around and rearranged.

“What’s happening-” Pecha shouted, quickly whipping out her badge, Don doing the same.

_ Oh crap.  _ Don’s face fell when he saw the statistics reading for the dungeon; specifically, the dungeon’s mysteriousity rating being set at a score of 4 (with the maximum rating being 5).

When he and Pecha made it out of the stairwell and onto the next floor, the stone walls were now replaced with the same solid hedge and vine walls of the Misty Meadows’ dungeon, all but confirming Don’s fears.

“Crap!” Pecha shouted, whipping her head around frantically.    
  


“Waitwaitwaitwaitwait- Pecha, Wait!” Don shouted, jumping up to grab her paw. “Pecha, relax! We’re still in the right dungeon!” Don said, audibly repeating his preexisting knowledge of mysteriousity back to Pecha. “Whenever a dungeon changes appearances like this, it doesn’t ever change the length of the dungeon; only its appearance and the type of pokemon found in them-” The rowlet trailed off as he caught the scent of an overpowering floral aroma from behind him. 

Don quickly turned around and saw a wild spritzee gently spraying an almost intoxicating mist towards them. Suddenly being overcome with adrenaline, Don launched himself forward and swiped his wing through the air, launching a bundle of razor leaves towards the enemy. “Pecha!” He shouted back towards his partner.

All of the uncertainty left Pecha’s expression as she turned towards the spritzee with a determined glare. “Right.” With that, she hopped over Don’s head planting a kick on the wild pokemon’s head.

\---

“S-so, we’re just supposed to babysit Mimikyu?” Helioptile asked Aurorus shyly, while Ajax watched on.

“You two do think you can keep an eye on here without too much trouble, do you?” Ajax asked again, trying once again to sound pleading.

“Looking after young pokemon under unexpected circumstances is often an ignored task explorers find themselves with.” Aurorus explained. “Explorers are expected to help console and protect pokemon between their tasks of rescuing and outlaw hunting. Looking after Mimikyu while Flygon goes out for a break should not be too difficult.”

Helioptile and Tangela exchanged a hesitant glance before stiffly nodding in agreement. “Yes, Guildmaster!”

“Thanks.” Ajax, turning his attention back to Yuna. “Yuna, try to stay on your best behavior.” Ajax said almost automatically, but still with the intention of making sure Yuna doesn’t try her more ‘ghostly’ pranks with the especially skittish team of apprentices.

“Of course, Gongon!” Yuna happily chirped, but she had a hint of mischief in her eyes telling Ajax that she was likely planning on continuing her antics anyways. 

Ajax just rolled his eyes with a tired sigh. “Thanks again, Aurorus. Team LimeLight, I will pay for your service after I’ve returned.”

“OK, Flygon!” Helioptile said, before she and Tangela began to lead Yuna back down the hallway. 

“Being a parent must be hard.” Aurorus said to Ajax once the other three ran out of sight. “At least from my experience as a guildmaster, being the one responsible for impressionable minds puts a lot of pressure on you.” Her gaze trailed away, with an almost cautious look in her gaze.

Ajax raised an eyebrow in response to this. He’s noticed before that Aurorus seemed fairly young to be a guildmaster; actually he thinks she’s probably younger than him. With the guild apprentices, Aurorus carries a very dignified and commanding presence; but having spent some time around her and the rest of the guild crew, Ajax has noticed how she practically deflates once she no longer has to act as a center of authority.

Seeing that nobody else seemed to be in earshot, Ajax decided he wanted to ask her about that.

“Guildmaster Aurorus, forgive my curiosity, but how long have you been a Guildmaster now?”

Aurorus looked back at him, eyes wide with shock. “How long-” She paused for a moment, mulling over how to respond. “Ah, yes. You’re not from here so you likely don’t know.” She looked back at him with an almost amused smile. “Probably….three years at most?” She replied, and Ajax realized that this was probably the most casual he’d ever seen Aurorus.

That said, Ajax was similarly surprised by her answer. “Wait, just three years? The way you carry yourself-”

Aurorus began to walk down the hall, Ajax following. “Everybody always seems surprised to learn that.” She said, almost sarcastically, stopping besides an ornate painting hung in the wall, turning to it with a nostalgic expression.

The painting depicted a grizzled, old Pyroar of the mohawk-main variety. The figure in the painting looked back towards the world with large, bold eyes and a dignified smirk.  _ Whoever the artist is, they have a great grasp on expressions.  _ Ajax thought to himself before looking down at the plaque below the painting.

_ “Guildmaster Carnelion Pyroar, Position held 2001 -2017.” _

“Carnelion was my predecessor and my mentor when I was an apprentice.” Aurorus explained, looking back at Ajax with evident respect for the pokemon she was talking about. “He was a bit of an odd one, though. He had a tendency to ramble on easily, whether it be about personal anecdotes or horoscopes.” She said with a coy smirk, looking back at the painting. “He was also infamous for being strict, there’s rumors of him bringing some apprentices to tears, and I’d be lying If I said I wasn’t afraid of his scoldings too-” She began to look at the painting even more intently, her expression changing from amused back to nostalgic. “-But he was quick to change his tune as the apprentices became more confident and receptive to his rants. He’s the best teacher I’ve ever had.” The Guildmaster admitted with a fond smile. 

“Did he retire?” Ajax asked, turning back to Aurorus.

The Guildmaster nodded. “Yes, A couple years back, the Federation was trying to push a ‘curriculum’ on adventurer guilds in order to make them more ‘academic’.” Despite her lacking the appendages to do so, Ajax could clearly imagine Aurorus doing an unamused quotations gesture. “After that, he decided to retire and chose me as replacement.” She began to walk down the hall again, her neck slumping slightly as if she were embarrassed. “He was preparing to retire soon anyways but that’s what sent him over the edge. At first I was completely shocked and even now-” She turned her head towards the wall, speaking in a small, quiet voice. “There’s a lot of times where I feel that I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Ajax again looked at Aurorus, once again shocked to be hearing any of this from somebody who usually carries herself with such poise. To this, while Ajax had noticed that while Aurorus definitely had all of the traits he typically associated with a guildmaster (especially considering his own experiences with one), he also thought that Aurorus still had an edge to her that made her particularly unique. Whether it was the special excitement she got whenever talking about the expedition or the intense frustration she had when complaining about Officer Gumshoos’s meddling in her affairs, there were cases where it seemed that Aurorus was still learning what exactly her position meant and how she was supposed to fill it.

Learning that she’s only been Guildmaster for a few years now definitely explains her more unexpected behaviors; but also just makes all of her accomplishments up to this point even more impressive. Aurorus always put the health, physical and mental, of her apprentices first and was definitely never unaware of the many responsibilities she had. He wasn’t going to say it, but Ajax honestly felt inadequate when thinking about this.

Aurorus had already managed to become so accomplished and well-respected in her community, while Ajax felt that he spent the last few years of his life doing nothing but floundering. Letting others tell him what he should do, dedicating himself to helping others so he wouldn’t have to think about his problems. 

Ajax must have begun frowning at some point of this revelation because Aurorus stared at him with concern. “Flygon, is something wrong?” 

_ What- _ Ajax quickly shook his head, breaking out of his thoughts. “Oh, sorry! No, I was just thinking about how talented you are as a Guildmaster.”

Aurorus’s eyes widened again. “Oh, thank you-” She almost sputtered in response, before sheepishly turning away. “I’m glad that you think so. I didn’t intend on suddenly venting to you about my feelings on being Guildmaster.” She glanced back at him again, her face returned to the placid, yet firm smile she typically wore when conducting duties around the guild. “Thank you for lending your ear though. Sorry to have kept you from your own duties.”

“No, it’s fine.” Ajax replied reassuringly. “I actually found this conversation to be very insightful.”

“Hmm.” She hummed approvingly. 

“-That said.” Ajax turned back down the hallway. “I am going to go get some fresh air now.” 

“Don’t feel bad about asking one of the guild crew to watch after Mimikyu.” The Guildmaster replied. “Everybody needs a break everyone and while, and I doubt that you are any exception. I hope you enjoy the day to yourself.”

“Thank you.” He nodded gratefully. “I appreciate it very much.” With that, he fluttered forward a bit, letting himself relax now that he had this moment for reprieve.

Yuna may be one of the kindest and sweetest pokemon Ajax has ever had the fortune to know, and he will always be willing to drop  _ everything  _ to help and protect her, but constantly hovering over her could get exhausting. Considering all of the sudden events that have happened since leaving the Sand Continent, Ajax had long been fighting off his own fatigue, so he finally caved to the idea of giving himself a day off. With the expedition getting closer, Ajax just  _ needed _ a day to himself to decompress and ignore at least some of his worries. 

That said, he was still surprised at just how refreshed he felt when he exited the guild and felt a gentle gust of fresh air hit his face and enter his lungs. Being outside, he finally felt free to fully extend his wings, letting the cool breeze wash against his scales, soothing aches he didn’t even realize he had. 

His moment of respite however was interrupted when he saw a hattrem sitting in a patch of grass in front of the guild. As he approached, he saw that they were weaving blades of grass together with shaking hands, their gaze downcast and dull with dread. 

In that moment, Ajax quickly refocused his attention on the troubled pokemon, pushing his day off out of mind. 

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

The hattrem quickly turned their head around and looked at him in shock. “Oh, I’m sorry!”

There was something vaguely familiar about the hattrem and Ajax began to get a sinking feeling in his gut he couldn’t ignore. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but notice that you look nervous about something. Do you need help from the guild?”

“I-” She quickly stopped herself as her eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh, no-” She shook her head dismissively. “I already some guild apprentices to help me, it’s just-”

Ajax took a small step forward, listening intently. “Do you need to go inside?”

The hattrem looked at him, and Ajax realized that her breathing was erratic and that she was still shaking. “I- Yes.” She mumbled.

Ajax slowly took one of the pokemon’s hands as he led her inside the guild, recalling his training as a rescuer to help soothe her as best as he could. 

While he did this, the hattrem began rambling, occasionally choking up with what he thought to be the beginning of sobs. “My aunt- She- Her old team- They went to Magi’s Rock-” She winced in pain as she forced a gasp. “I think they’re going to fight each other so I sent Team FlareFeather-”

“FlareFeather?” Ajax repeated as he felt anxiety spike in himself.

She nodded, clenching her jaw as she angrily tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. “This time of year, Magi’s Rock is especially dangerous-” She gasped, looking back at him with desperate eyes. “I’m worried that Pecha and Don are in trouble. They’ve already been gone for several hours-”

“What’s going on?” 

Ajax and Hattrem both looked to see Porygon-Z quickly zipping across the room over to them. 

Porygon-Z’s eyes widened upon seeing Hattrem. “Rene Hattrem! What’s wrong?” Porygon-Z placed an arm on her shoulder. “Ajax, what did she say?” The synthetic pokemon said with a strange accusation in their tone.

Ajax blinked in confusion, taken aback by animosity he thought he heard in Porygon-Z’s voice before answering. “She- She said that Pecha and Don have gone to Magi’s Rock. She said something about a fight-”

Porygon-Z looked back at Hattrem, their eyes flitting about with concern. “A fight between who?” They asked Hattrem with genuine concern. 

_ Did I imagine it?  _ Ajax thought to himself, now giving Porygon-Z a critical glance.  _ Porygon-Z seems to be mad at me about something. _

“My aunt and Team Fortune.” Hattrem answered, turning her gaze to the ground.

Porygon-Z shut their eyes as a weird whirring sound began to come from their chest. ( _ Their version of a sigh?) _ “Your Aunt, Melody Mismagius, yes?” 

Hattrem just nodded. 

“I’ll go.” The flygon answered without hesitation.

Porygon-Z and Hattrem both turned to Ajax.

“You will?” Porygon-Z asked, giving Ajax a suspicious glare. 

“I used to be an explorer.” Ajax replied, deciding to answer Porygon-Z’s sudden animosity with his own snark. “I’ll be fine alone. The rest of the guild crew is busy and all of the other teams are already out on missions by now. Besides, I owe Team FlareFeather a favor-”

Porygon-Z only stared at Ajax more intently while Hattrem got on her feet, looking at Ajax with hope in her eyes. 

“Magi’s Rock has been recorded with a dangerous level of mysteriosity lately-” Porygon-Z explained, though again it seemed like this in some attempt to restrain Ajax somehow. “Going alone-”

“Trust me.” Ajax shot back, now becoming more and more fed up with Porygon-Z’s jabs at him. “I’m not just any explorer. There are things that I’ve seen that nobody else has-” He said, not even caring about oversharing so much information right now.  _ Pecha and Don are in danger! Now’s not the time to be arguing! _ “Let. Me. Go.”

A moment of tense silence followed afterwards before Porygon-Z replied. “...After you find Pecha and Don you’re going to need to meet in Aurorus’s Office. You have a lot of things to answer for...Ajax.”

Just like that, the red-hot anger Ajax felt before fizzled away as he felt a chill pass down his spine.  _ They know. _ He realized, and for a moment he felt like he was falling. Almost pleadingly, he looked back at Porygon-Z, searching their face once more for any sort of-

Their expression didn’t change at all except for the slightest shift of their bulging eyes.

The color completely drained from Ajax’s face as he stared helplessly at Porygon-Z, his jaw going slack. 

“Flygon-”

Ajax was drawn out of his daze when he turned to see Hattrem had gently placed a hand on his arm. 

“You’re friends with Pecha and Don, aren’t you?” She asked innocently, her eyes still pleading in sincere. “Please, I’m worried about them…”

The fog of doubt in Ajax’s head cleared for a moment. Pecha and Don were in trouble and he was the only one who could help. Porygon-Z, his past, Yuna, the Prism Globe - None of those mattered right now. None of those  _ could  _ matter right now. 

Ajax roughly swallowed, a reflex to not only stuff down the rasp in his throat but to also shove all of his trepidations out of mind to make room for resolution. Now’s the time of act. 

“I will. Don’t worry.” Without another word, Ajax acknowledged Hattrem with a nod before sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him out the gate. As he made his way outside the guild, he spread his wings, still not stopping his sprint. 

As the slope of the path began to decline, the wind caught itself under his wings, holding him aloft as he began to soar. 

Focusing on nothing except saving Pecha and Don, he instead let himself get lost in the roaring sound of the air as he took flight. 


End file.
